Seeking the Doctor
by Eira Lloyd
Summary: The Doctor stumbles upon a parallel universe where Doctor Who is a TV show, and finds three fangirls. What happens when they insist on coming with him? Will they change the major plotlines? And if they do, what will happen? But what if they don't? Will the Doctor be mad at them after he loses everything again and again?
1. The Meeting (Sonya)

**A/N: I know I'm currently writing a lot of stories, but I had this plot in my mind for weeks. In this fanfic, I'm basically inserting my best friends here. And well, I'm inserting myself too. I got the title from one of the songs from the Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 soundtrack. I'm going to be alternating the chapters between the three girls' point of view. I'm going to recommend songs to listen to while reading certain parts of the story, but it's just a suggestion. I hope you like it!**

**The Meeting (Sonya).**

**Song: **_A Noble Girl About Town_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 4 Soundtrack.

"Well, that's it for today, folks." Sonya said, switching off the TV.

"What d'you mean that's it? We haven't finished season two yet!" Cassidy protested.

"But look at the time! It's past midnight." Sonya replied. Usually, she wouldn't mind. She wasn't even tired. But Camyl needed to go early in the morning and she deserved a good night's sleep. She wasn't used to staying up all night watching shows as much as Sonya and Cassidy were.

"Sonya's right, I've got to go to my parents' early tomorrow." Camyl reminded her best friend. Cassidy groaned.

"Why? It's not like your parents are bossing you around, you're 19! Why can't you just stay?" She asked.

"I can't, it's my mum's birthday, and she's making me visit her and dad. So I'd like to sleep for more than four hours. Remember that time we decided to watch _Mamma Mia!_ and it was past twelve? And we had to get up at seven in the morning?" Camyl asked, standing up from the couch.

"Oi! If I remember well, _you_ were the one who wanted to watch it." Sonya reminded her, standing up as well. "Oh, come on, Cass. I've got to make Cam's bed. Move." She tried to shoo her off the couch.

Cassidy groaned. "It's too far!" She complained.

"You've only got to stand up! Go on!" Sonya insisted. Her best friend and flatmate groaned some more before standing up and moving out of her way. Sonya turned the couch into a proper bed in no time, and threw the blankets she'd brought earlier at Camyl, who caught two of them but didn't manage to catch the third. "I'll bring you a pillow." Sonya walked to her room and grabbed one of the two pillows on her bed, before making her way back to the living room.

"Where's Cassidy?" She asked once she saw Camyl sitting on the recently made bed. She gave her the pillow and sat down next to her.

"She went to her room—I think."

"She's probably going to watch _Charmed_." Sonya nodded. "Guess I'll go to sleep as well. Do you need anything else?" She asked.

"No, I'll be all right." Camyl shook her head.

Sonya nodded. "All right, then. See you tomorrow."

"Good night." Camyl called out. Sonya knocked on Cassidy door four times, imitating a Time Lord heartbeat.

"Stop it!" Her friend called out.

"Why? Reminds you of something?" Sonya smirked. Camyl wouldn't understand because she hadn't watched past _The Satan Pit_ in _Doctor Who_, but Cassidy had watched every episode from New Who except the 2013 Christmas special, which she'd refused to see on the telly because she'd miss Matt Smith too much, and she hadn't prepared herself mentally. Sonya instead had seen everything, except a few specials, but she'd seen all the season episodes and the Christmas specials, along with a few others.

"Shut up!"

"You're watching _Charmed_?" Sonya asked.

"Yes!"

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow!" She called out, and waited for an answer.

"Later!"

Satisfied, Sonya walked back to her room, and prepared herself to go to sleep. It wasn't easy, to fall asleep, but she managed. Or at least that's what she thought because she heard the TARDIS noise after a while trying to sleep. It was just too real to be true.

Still, when she heard it, her eyes snapped open, and she bolted out of her bed, looking out the window. She lived in the second floor of a building, but from there, she could see the TARDIS materializing, and, if she opened the window, she could hear the screams of someone _really_ frustrated.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" A man walked out of the box.

She couldn't see him very well, but she was thrilled. Who else could it be? It had to be the Doctor. Sonya hurried to the other side of the room and opened her closet, threw some clothes on and struggled to put on her shoes while she knocked at Cassidy door like crazy.

"What?" She heard her friends' irritated voice through the door.

"The Doctor's here!" Sonya exclamed.

"Haha, very funny." Cassidy said sarcastically.

"But it's true! Look out your window!" She yelled as she finished putting on her shoes. She heard Cassidy sigh and then her yelp, which was followed by the door opening abruptly.

But by then, Sonya was already gone to wake up Camyl.

* * *

**Song: **_Voyage of the Damned Suite, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 4 Soundtrack.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked when he saw them.

Sonya recognised him immediately. It was his ninth regeneration. "Yeah, sorry, I'm Sonya." She extended her hand. The Doctor shook it.

"And I'm Cassidy." Her flatmate introduced herself.

"Camyl." The last girl said. The Doctor shook Cassidy's hand before shaking hers.

"Okay… Why did you knock?" He asked. "I mean, it's just a police box, and it's, what, three in the morning?"

"Quarter to two, actually." Camyl corrected him, shooting her friends a dark look.

"It's not _just a police box_." Cassidy said. "Just look at this beauty!" She patted the box.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her weirdness. "What do you want?"

"What's your name?" Sonya asked, ignoring his question. She wanted to confirm it was the Doctor, and not Christopher Eccleston.

"I'm the Doctor. What do you want?" He repeated his question. The girls completely ignored him, as they exchanged a look. The Doctor crossed his arms. "What's this about? Do you know something I don't?"

"Yeah. Your future, actually." Cassidy admitted.

"What?"

"Yeah. You see, you're part of this TV show called _Doctor Who_. It's great and everything. You should watch it—no, maybe not." Camyl interrupted herself.

"What?"

"Is there a problem with the TARDIS?" Sonya asked.

"Wha—yes, but—how—?"

The same girl cut him off. "Do you know how to fix it?"

The Doctor looked offended. "Of course I do!"

"Good. Then get to it!" Cassidy ordered.

"I knew I was in a parallel universe but—"

"You better believe it. It's worse for us, we're believing the main character from one of our favourite TV shows actually exists." Cassidy cut him off. "Anyway, while you repair the TARDIS, we're going to pack our things."

"Wait, what?" Camyl and the Doctor asked.

"Well, we're coming with you, aren't we?" Cassidy looked at Sonya for support.

"Yeah, of course." The girl nodded, but hesitant nonetheless. She didn't konw how the Doctor would react.

"But—" The Doctor started.

Cassidy interrupted him again. "It's sorted. I'll pack my bags first while you guys make sure he doesn't go off without us. I'll be right back." And she jogged back to the building.

Sonya and Camyl exchanged glances, then looked at the Doctor. "Seems like you're stuck with us." Sonya said.

"Seems like it, yes." The Doctor nodded, and sighed. "You might as well come in." He moved away from the door, opening it wider.

"Oh! Nine/Ten's decor!" Sonya exclaimed, without thinking, as she walked inside the TARDIS. "I missed this one." She patted the wall. "What do you think?" She asked her best friend.

Camyl shrugged. "It's the only one I know." She sat on one of the seats on the side of the console. She seemed to remember something, as she perked up. "But I can't come!"

"Why not?" The Doctor and Sonya asked at the same time.

"My mum's birthday is tomorrow, remember? I can't miss it." She sounded disappointed. Sonya switched to her psychologist mode.

"Do you want to come?" She asked her friend.

"Yes—but I can't."

"It's not like you have to go to your parents' tomorrow either. Just pay for one of those breakfast thingies and leave her a note that says, sorry, I've gone traveling or something. You could come anyway." Sonya said. "You don't have to, obviously. In the end, it's your decision." The girls stayed quiet. "I'll go pack my things. Cassidy should be back here soon, and when she does, you can go to your flat, pack your stuff or just go to sleep." She proposed, before exiting the TARDIS.

There were two lifts in the building, and since Cassidy wasn't in the flat or in the lift she took, she assumed she was taking—or already in—the other lift, going to the lobby, when she was going up to their flat.

She packed her things, taking everything she could with her, and after she was done, she sat on the bed and took out her phone. She stared at a picture of her family. She was going to miss them, that was for sure, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She couldn't miss it.

Sonya immediately sent an email to her family and friends—Cassidy and Camyl weren't included—saying she was going traveling, but the money wasn't enough to communicate with them, so they shouldn't be alarmed if they never got news from her again, which made her tear up a little. In the end she hit the send button, put her phone back in her pocket, grabbed her duffel back and walked out of the building without looking back.

This was going to be a great adventure.


	2. Rose (Camyl)

**Rose (Camyl).**

**Song: **_Seeking the Doctor, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

Camyl had never been more conflicted, more torn apart than when she had to make the decision to either stay home or go with the Doctor. She was glad she'd made the right decision.

She'd done what Sonya had told her to do, and had packed as fast as she could. Living in the flat above her friends' had its perks. She didn't have to walk far or ask for a ride, since she didn't own a car, and the three girls went to uni by foot.

However, she almost missed the TARDIS. She started to hear the whirring noise, characteristic of the TARDIS, and saw the blue box flicker. She didn't hesitate and ran off, started pounding on the door, while yelling, "Oi! I'm coming with you! Open the door!"

Then the door opened, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her in, shutting the door immediately after, as the TARDIS disappeared back into the vortex and to the universe it belonged.

She looked up at the owner of the hand. It was Cassidy. "Glad you made the right decision." Her friend grinned at her.

Camyl couldn't help but smile at that. "Same." She looked around. "Where do I leave this?" She held up her bag.

The Doctor, who was still doing his best to select a time and place to go next, pointed at one of the doors. "Go through that door, then left, until the end of the corridor, then right, go up five steps, jump two times, then six and keep moving. A door's supposed to appear at the top of the stairs. Go through that door and pick a room."

Camyl was confused for a moment. "All right." She said slowly, and left the console room, mumbling the instructions to herself.

She came back to the console room soon after, and found Cassidy and Sonya talking to the Doctor.

"So, if we're going to be traveling with you, we need gadgets." Cassidy said. "I want a vortex manipulator."

"Oh, oh, I want a sonic screwdriver!" Sonya looked exited.

"Does that mean I can get a psychic paper?" Camyl called out, as she approached the rest.

"Hold on, hold on, first you order your way into my spaceship, and now you want me to give you gadgets?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Cassidy nodded. "It might seem to be too much but we won't ask anything else of you, I promise!" She made her puppy dog eyes and the Doctor sighed.

"All right, all right! I'll see what I can do."

Cassidy and Sonya clapped their hands together. "Yay!" They both exclaimed before they high-fived. Camyl chuckled. "If you're wondering, yes, they do act mostly like this." She told the Doctor, who sighed.

"Great." He said sarcastically. "So, where to?"

"Oh! I know! March 5, 2005." Sonya said, obviously excited.

"Let's go, then." Camyl, knowing already how the Doctor's driving could be, grabbed one side of the console as the Doctor flipped switches and pulled levers.

"Allons-y!" Sonya said.

"Geronimo!" Cassidy said, and the Doctor pulled the final lever, and the TARDIS started to move.

* * *

**Song: **_Westminster Bridge, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

Camyl and the girl had a chat after that, agreeing they wouldn't change big plotlines, because who knew what would happen then? Instead, they'd try to save everyone that died and didn't deserve to die, didn't _have _to.

And soon, they were off to save Rose from the Autons, though the Doctor didn't know that. He just knew about the Autons. Someone had to stay behind—Doctor's orders—because he'd… What had he said again? He'd bought a vortex manipulator and someone was to deliver it to the TARDIS. Sonya stayed behind, and Camyl and Cassidy were at Henrik's, Rose's shop.

The Doctor had gone down a while ago, and Cassidy was working on some sort of technological artifact. Camyl wasn't very good at science, which was one of the reasons why she was studying journalism instead, but Cassidy had decided to study both filmmaking and computer engineering.

"What are you doing?" Camyl asked her friend.

"It's a bomb. It'll make the place explode, just like in the episode. I've always wanted to know how the Doctor did it, and here I've got a chance." She replied, finishing the device as the doors of the lift opened, and the Doctor walked out, along with a pretty blond girl, with brown eyes. Rose.

"That's just not funny, that's sick!" Rose protested, eyeing the Doctor as if he were crazy. Or an alien. Well, he's both.

"Hold on!" The Doctor pushed her aside. "Mind your eyes." He disabled the lift with his sonic screwdriver, and sparks flew. Rose covered her eyes.

"I've had enough of this now!" She exclaimed.

The Doctor walked to where the girls were, in the middle of the corridor. "Is it ready?"

"Just finished it." Cassidy stood up, holding up the device. "Give the girl a medal." She threw the device at the Doctor, who caught it easily, as Rose walked toward them.

"Who are you? All of ya. Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?" She insisted when the Doctor started walking again toward the end of the corridor, and Cassidy and Camyl followed.

"They're called Autons." Camyl supplied.

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof. Which would be a great big problem if we didn't have this." The Doctor showed her the bomb. "So!" He opened the fire exit, and held the door open. "We're going to go up there and blow them up, and we might well die in the process. But don't worry about us, no. Go home, go on! Go and have your lovely beans on toast." Rose stepped hesitantely outside, and the Doctor pushed Camyl as well. "Make sure she doesn't try to come back." He told her, and she nodded. "Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." He told Rose, before closing the door.

"Let's go, then." Camyl said. "I'm Camyl, by the way." She extended her hand.

"Rose." The girl shook it, a bit numb.

"Let's go, then." Camyl said, and started moving, but the door opened, and the Doctor and Cassidy poked out.

"I'm the Doctor, by the way, and this is Cassidy, what's your name?" The Doctor asked.

"Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life." The Doctor and Cassidy said at the exact same time, before closing the fire exit door, and Camyl knew they had to move.

"Come on." Camyl said, and started walking, before jogging, and then breaking into a run. They passed the TARDIS. She looked over her shoulder a few times to make sure Rose was following, and she only stopped when she thought they were safe. "So, go on, Rose. Go back home, I've got to go, anyway."

"But—" Rose started to protest, but at the same moment, Henrik's exploded, catching her attention. Camyl took advantage of her distraction, and walked away, breaking into a run as soon as she was out of earshot, and ran toward the TARDIS. She knocked, but not in that desperate way she had before. Sonya opened.

"Camyl! What happened?" She asked.

"The Doctor and Cassidy blew up the shop. Did Cassie's vortex manipulator get here?" She asked.

"Yeah, a couple of minutes ago. How's Rose?"

"Stunned." Camyl entered the TARDIS. "Now we've just got to wait."

* * *

**Song: **_Cassandra's Waltz, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

While the Doctor had found a psychic paper for her, he still had to make Sonya's sonic screwdriver, but both Camyl and Sonya had a feeling she wouldn't get one any time soon.

The next day, they were looking for the plastic arm, all three of them. Camyl had hurried to the bin where Mickey had tossed the arm but it wasn't there, so she walked up to Rose's flat, just to find her pulling the Doctor, Cassidy and Sonya in.

"You too." Rose said, grabbing her arm and pulling her in.

"What's this about?" Camyl asked, confused, as Rose shut the door.

"Who is it?" Jackie called out from her bedroom.

"It's about last night, they're part of the inquiry. Give us 10 minutes." Rose said, motioning the others to follow her.

"She deserves compensation." Jackie called out. The Doctor lingered at the door while the three girls followed Rose into the living room.

"Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?" Rose asks.

"No, thanks." Camyl shook her head.

"Had some this morning, but thank you anyway." Sonya also refused.

"I'd like coffee. Black, two sugars, please." Cassidy sat down on the couch. Just then, the Doctor appeared, having heard the coffee question.

"Might as well, thanks! Just milk." He said, and Rose disappeared into the kitchen to make coffee.

"We should go to the police. Seriously." Rose said. "All of us—well, at least the ones who were there." But everyone was pretty much ignoring her. Sonya had picked up a book that had been on the table, Cassidy had picked up a pack of cards, and Camyl was giving the couch strange looks.

"That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien." Camyl looked up at the Doctor, who was looking at a magazine.

"I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong." They could hear Rose still talking, unaware of the others' distractions.

He dropped it back on the table, and looked at the book Sonya was holding, before picking it up, flicking through it and dropping it back in Sonya's lap. "Sad ending."

"They said on the news they'd found a body." Rose.

The Doctor picked up an envelope, and read, "Rose Tyler." Before noticing his own reflexion in the mirror. "Ahh, could've been worse! Look at me' ears."

"All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke." Rose.

Two different conversations at the same time, and trying to focus on both was giving her a headache, so she focused back on the couch. The arm was behind it, she was sure of it.

"Doctor." She said, catching his attention. "The arm we're looking for? It's behind the couch."

Cassidy practically jumped off the couch, cards flying out of her hands and onto the floor. The Doctor leaned behind the sofa, and the arm flew out, the hand grabbing his neck and strangling him.

Cassidy and Camyl tried to pull out the hand while Sonya searched the Doctor's jacket pockets for the sonic screwdriver. She found it just when the hand stopped strangling the Doctor and tried to turn to attack the girls. Camyl lost her grip when the arm tried to fly out but Cassidy didn't, and held it firm as Sonya sonic-ed the plastic, and the arm stopped struggling.

"There." Sonya smiled, looking satisfied. She threw the sonic at the Doctor, who caught it, though it almost fell to the floor.

"I told Mickey to chuck that out." Rose said, as she entered the room with the coffee mugs. She put them on the table.

"And then it came back and it tried to kill us." Sonya said. The Doctor tossed the arm at Rose, who caught it.

"Don't worry now. I've stopped it. 'Armless." The Doctor said.

Sonya snorted. "You stopped it? You were completely useless! _We_ stopped it!" The girl protested.

"Fine, fine, we stopped it." The Doctor corrected himself. Sonya rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, he was just playing the bait." Cassidy said. Rose just looked at them, confused.

"It's just plastic." The blonde girl said.

"Yes, about that, we've got to go." The Doctor stood up and just left. The girls exchanged a glance, and ran off after him.

Camyl wasn't sure she wanted to do that, leave Rose on her own without any answers. At least that's how it felt, anyway. Camyl was sure she wouldn't like it either if she was left like that. But right now, she had to follow the Doctor. They hadn't exactly been nice to him, she felt as if they owed him something.

"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off." Rose protested, as she followed them down the stairs.

"Yes we can. Here we are, this is us, swanning off. See ya!" Cassidy said the Doctor's lines from the show, since the Doctor was far down the stairs, and while he'd probably heard them, he might not want to answer, or they might not hear him.

"Was that arm really moving?" Rose asked. They didn't answer. "You can't just walk away, that's not fair! You've got to tell me what's going on."

"No, we don't." Cassidy said again.

"Sorry." Camyl added.

"Not really." Cass shook her head and hurried to join the Doctor. Sonya and Camyl exchanged glances before running along.

They exited the building, and walked fast, instead of running. "Alright then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking."

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" Sonya asked.

"Sort of." Rose replied.

"Doesn't work." They all said at the same time.

"Who are you?"

"We told you! The Doctor, Cassidy, Camyl and Sonya." Sonya said.

"Yeah, all right, but doctor? Doctor what?" Rose asked.

"Just the Doctor." The Doctor replied, slowing down a little.

"The Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Hello." The Dooctor smiled and waved.

"We'll meet you back in the TARDIS, Doctor." Sonya said, grabbing her two best friends by the arms and leading them to the blue box on a corner of the street.

* * *

**Song: **_Just Scarecrows to War, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 3 Soundtrack.

Later that night, the Doctor found a lead that would take him to one of the Autons, and with a bit of luck, he could get a part of the plastic man that he could use to trace the place the signal came from.

The Doctor, of course, couldn't explain that easily, and was rambling for at least five minutes. After the first two, Camyl already had a headache, and had decided that she'd had enough techno babble for the day, so she retreated into her room. She heard the TARDIS moving, jumped off her bed after a bit of reading, and walked out of her room, trying to find her way back to the console.

Because the TARDIS was either extremely mad at her or she was just feeling like playing with her for a while, it took her about half an hour to get back to the console, and by then, Rose Tyler had entered the TARDIS for the first time. How did she know? Because as soon as she entered the room, Rose was looking wide-eyed at the interior of the TARDIS before running out without uttering another word.

"Did you get the head?" Camyl asked, as she approached the Doctor. She looked at the console, and found herself looking with Mickey's plastic head. "Never mind. I can see it."

"Ten out of ten for observation." The Doctor replied absent-mindedly.

Before Camyl could say anything else, Rose ran back into the TARDIS.

"It's gonna follow us!" She cried out.

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." The Doctor ordered her.

Sonya rolled her eyes. "He means, welcome to the TARDIS."

But Rose was too busy, stil admiring the interior to hear her. Which meant, no one would stop the Doctor from rambling even more techno babble than before. At least, Camyl hoped, this one wouldn't be so bloody complicated.

"You see, the arm is too simple, but the head's perfect." The Doctor said, as if it was obvious to Rose, what they were talking about. "I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right." He turns back to Rose. "Where do you want to start?"

"Um… The inside's bigger than the outside?"

"Yes." The Doctor grinned.

"Yup." Camyl nodded.

"Right-o." Cass said, before making her I-won't-ever-use-this-word-again face.

"Correctimundo." Sonya smiled, before her friends turned back at her and gave her a weird look. "What? Ten said it!"

Camyl, who vaguely remembered the Doctor saying that, quickly following with "I hope I won't say that ever again" or something of the sort, nodded absent-mindedly, focusing back on the Doctor and Rose.

"It's alien." Rose continued, ignoring the girls.

"Yup." The Doctor nodded.

"That's right." Camyl said. Cassidy and Sonya were still rambling about the weirdnesses the Doctors say.

"Are you alien?" She asked them all.

"He is." The three girls said at once, pointing at Nine.

"I am." The Doctor nodded. Rose just stared at him. "Is that all right?"

"Yeah." Rose said.

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." A small sob escaped Rose's lips, and Camyl walked toward her, wanting to comfort her. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"I don't think that's what she's upset about, Doctor." Camyl said, and barely registered Sonya and Cassidy nod out of the corner of her eye.

"Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" Rose asked. Camyl hugged her, and Rose quickly returned the hug.

"Oh... didn't think of that." The Doctor admitted, and thus received glares from pretty much all the girls in the room. Rose and Camyl stopped hugging each other.

"He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head—they copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?!"

"Melt?" The Doctor wasn't the only one who turned around to stare at plastic!Mickey's head melting. Camyl had been so busy worrying about Rose, she hadn't remembered the head melting. "Oh, no no no no no NO!" The Doctor ran frantically around the console, flicking switches, pushing buttons and pulling levers.

"What're you doing?!" Rose asked.

"Reviving the signal, it's fading! Wait I've got it..." The Doctor explained as the TARDIS started shaking, which meant they were moving. "No No No No No No NO!" Rose and Camyl almost fell to the floor, while Sonya and Cassidy managed to get a grip around the console.

"Come on." Camyl pulled Rose toward the console, as best as she could, and they managed to grip the console for support.

"Almost there! Almost there! Here we go!" The Doctor exclaimed, and the TARDIS stopped shaking. He, Cass and Sonya ran out the doors without a word.

"You can't go out there, it's not safe!" Rose ran after him, and Camyl followed.

"I lost the signal, I got so close." The Doctor lamented.

"We've moved! Does it fly?" Rose asked.

"Disappears there, reappears here, you wouldn't understand." The Doctor answered absent-mindedly.

"Come on, Doctor, she's not stupid." Cassidy gave him a stern look, which the Doctor completely ignored when he turned to look at her.

"Would you rather have me say that the TARDIS moves because of a process called 'materialisation', controlled by a component called the dematerialisation circuit which is composed of—" The Doctor started, but Camyl, who'd heard enough techno babble for at least a week, interrupted him,

"Disappears there, reappears here is fine." She said. The Doctor gave Cassidy an I-told-you-so look.

"But if we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose." Rose guessed.

"It melted with the head, are you going to witter on all night?" The Doctor, obviously annoyed, asked her.

"I'll have to tell his mother..." Rose said, more to herself than anything. When the Doctor gave her a questioning look, she gave him an incredulous one. "Mickey! I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again!" The Time Lord just rolled his eyes. "You were right, you _are_ alien."

Rose turned away, walking away from the little group already, and Camyl called out her name. She didn't turn around, until the Doctor said, "Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey—"

"Yeah, he's not a kid." Rose interrupted him, but the Doctor continued, as if the interruption hadn't happened.

"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, alright?"

"Alright!"

"Yes! It is!"

The three girls looked at each other, as silence settled over them. This was a bit uncomfortable, at least for Camyl. She felt out of place, as if she were eavesdropping on something she shouldn't even be aware about. She shouldn't even be aware of the existance of the Time Lord, yet she was. And she'd traveled with him through time—because she came from the end of the year 2013, couple days after Christmas—and while she had yet to travel with him through space, time was enough to drive anyone mad.

"If you are an alien, then how comes you sound like you're from the North?" Rose suddenly asked.

"Lots of planets have a North." The Doctor protested, folding his arms, looking offended.

"What's a police public call box?" Rose asked.

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s." The Doctor grinned, patting the TARDIS fondly. "It's a disguise."

"I thought it was from the 1960s." Sonya frowned.

"Same difference." The Doctor shrugged.

Rose smiled slightly, and shook her head. "Okay. And this living plastic, what's it got against us?" She asked.

"Nothing, it loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air... Perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth... Dinner!" The Doctor explained.

"Any way of stopping it?" Rose asked.

"Anti-plastic!" The Doctor grinned, as he took out a tube filled with a dark blue liquid, and showed it to Rose.

"Anti-plastic…"

"Anti-plastic! But first we've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on… Hide what?" Rose asked. Instead of the Doctor, Cassidy stepped in.

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?"

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure. Like a wheel… Or an eye." She finished when she turned around to stare at the London Eye.

"Close to where we're standing. Must be _completely_ invisible." The Doctor completed. Rose and the other two girls also spotted the London Eye. The alien notices them staring at it, and he turns around, facing the Eye, just to turn back toward the girls again, confusion etched on his face.

"What?" The girls nod toward the Eye. He turns around, just to repeat what he did the first time. "What?" The girls insist, wordlessly, but the Doctor still doesn't get it. "What is it? What?"

"God, you're pretty useless." Cassidy, who had no patience at all, sighed, exasperated. "Do you need glasses, Doctor? Are your big ears compensating for your lack of observations skills?" She turned him around, facing the Eye. "The London Eye. Looks like a transmitter, doesn't it? Round and massive, huge metal structure, close to where we're standing, _completely_ invisible, in a way." She finished.

"Oh…" The Doctor turned in a way that he's facing the four girls. "Fantastic!" He grinned, before running off. The four girls exchanged a glance, before following him, also running.

* * *

**Song: **_All the Strange, Strange Creatures, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 3 Soundtrack.

They stopped at the foot of the Eye.

"Think of it. Plastic, all over the world. Every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables..."

"The breast implants…" Rose added, making Cassidy and Sonya chuckle.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." The girls ran off in different directions, trying to find some sort of entrance when they heard Rose calling out for them.

"What about down here?" She asked, once the Doctor and Camyl, who were the ones closest to where she was, joined her.

"Looks good to me." The Doctor grinned, just as Cass and Sonya arrived. They entered the manhole, after taking the lid off it, and letting part of the smoke pour out. They followed the Doctor into some sort of chamber, where they walked down a couple of steps. "The Nestene Consciousness, that's it, inside the vat. A living, plastic creature." The alien said, pointing to a big mass of wobbling liquid plastic, if that's what it is.

"Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go." Rose said.

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." The Doctor walked down a couple of steps, Cassidy right next to him.

"We seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract. According to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The girl said. The Doctor gave her a questioning look, but didn't say anything.

In the show, you could only hear the Consciousness wobbling about, making weird noises, but since they'd actually traveled in the TARDIS, the ship translated it for Camyl, Sonya and Cassidy.

"You have permission to speak. Approach." The Consciousness said.

"Thank you. That we might have permission to approach." The Doctor said.

"Oh, my God! Mickey! It's okay! It's alright!" Rose rushed to help her boyfriend, and Sonya and Camyl jogged to where the couple were as well.

"That thing down there, the liquid, Rose—it can talk!" Mickey exclaimed, overwhelmed. Then, he seemed to notice the other two girls. "Who are you?"

"They're the girls I told you about." Rose said. "Sonya and Camyl." The girls waved as they were introduced.

"Now don't move." Sonya said, approaching him, taking out a knife out of one of her boots. Mickey's eyes widened, and tried to scoot away from her. Sonya rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm gonna cut you free, so don't move." She said firmly, and Mickey obeyed and stayed still, as Sonya cut him loose.

"You're stinking!" Rose said, before turning to the Doctor. "Doctor, they kept him alive!"

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." Cassidy answered absent-mindedly, already making her way to the Consciousness, followed by the Doctor.

"You knew that and you never said?" Rose's eyes widened, as she looked at each member of the group.

"Sorry." Sonya and Camyl apologised simultaneously.

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" The Doctor rolled his eyes at them. Rose helped Mickey to his feet, and the four of them gathered to watch the Doctor and Cassidy's audience with the Consciousness.

"Are we addressing the Consciousness?" Cassidy asked.

"Yes."

"Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warped, shunt technology. So, may I suggest that you shunt off?" The girl demanded

"If I recall the article 11 of the Polymos Constitution—" The Consciousness started, but the Doctor cut it off.

"Oh don't give us that, it's an invasion! Plain and simple! Don't talk about constitutional rights!"

"Do not interrupt me. You asked to talk—"

The Doctor interrupted again. "I. Am. Talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf—please, just go."

Four Autons approached them, two behind the Doctor and two behind Cassidy.

"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed.

"Cass!" Camyl and Sonya called out.

Too late. The Autons grabbed them, one of them taking the anti-plastic filled tube out of the Doctor's jacket pocket. "That was just insurance! We weren't going to _use_ it."

"Oh, really? Because this certainly looks as if you were attacking me!" The Consciousness retorted angrily. "And you'll soon find out to what I do to my enemies! And you are one of the worst enemies my kind could ever have after what you did! Because this is your ship, isn't it?"

"We were not attacking you. We're here to help. We're not your enemies. I swear, we're not—"

"What do you mean?" The Doctor interrupted Cassidy. A door opened, revealing the TARDIS. "Oh, oh no—honestly, no! Yes, that's my ship."

"You are one of them—one of the Time Lords! You destroyed my planet! And now I'm going to destroy this planet you care so much about!"

"That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war—it wasn't my fault! I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!" The Doctor protested.

"What's it doing?!" Rose asked. Camyl had forgotten she couldn't hear the Consciousness' half of the conversation.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene has identified its superior technology—it's terrified! It's going to the final base. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it! Sonya, Camyl, you too! Get out! Now!" The Doctor insisted, but Camyl saw him turn to Cassidy. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, Doctor. I signed up for this when I decided to join you." Cassidy told him. Camyl didn't register Rose phoning her mum, and just stared at the scene happening in front of her until Sonya grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the spaceship.

"It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!" She faintly heard the Doctor calling out.

"The end of the world..." Rose muttered, but Camyl was close enough to hear her, and she nodded numbly.

"Come on, guys! Get inside the TARDIS!" Sonya ordered as she fumbled to get her key out of her jeans pocket, and then trying to open the door.

"Why don't we just get out the way you came in?" Mickey asked.

"The stairs have gone." Rose replied.

"Just get inside!" Sonya ordered, having opened the door. Mickey stumbled on his feet, but managed to get inside, trying to back out as soon as he saw the interior. Sonya just pushed him back inside. "Mickey, we've got no time for culture shock. Stay inside." She turned to Rose and Camyl. "Girls! Come on!"

But Camyl and Rose were too busy watching the Doctor struggling to get the anti-plastic. Camyl stood up and picked up an axe.

"Cam! No time for heroics, get inside!" She heard Sonya call out, but completely ignored her.

She hacked at a chain on the wall trying to release it. Her heart was pounding, when she managed to get it free. She grabbed it, and breathed in and out two times before Rose got to her.

"Let me." She extended her hand for the chain.

Camyl didn't have to think about it. She gave Rose the chain.

"I've got no A Levels. No job. No future." She said. "But you know what I've got?" She asked Camyl, who stayed quiet, as she stepped aside. "Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team." The girls took a deep breath. "I've got the bronze."

Camyl watched as Rose swung across the gap over the Consciousness, kicking the Autons holding the Doctor hostage. When she was swinging back, she kicked the ones holding Cassidy. The girl helped Rose release the chain and get to where she and the Doctor were, and the three of the watched as the anti-plastic fell onto the Consciousness's wobbling mass. The Consciousness screamed, and Camyl covered her ears, falling onto her knees. It was too much. A cry of agony, that chilled her to the core.

Sonya ran up to her and helped her up, constantly wincing, as she led her best friend to the TARDIS. The Doctor, Rose and Cassidy were close behind, and Cass closed the door behind them, the Doctor rushing to the console, and the TARDIS dematerialised.

* * *

**Song: **_The Doctor's Theme, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

As soon as they materialised, Mickey ran out of the TARDIS, almost falling to the ground as he did. He backed against a wall, completely terrified. Rose, instead, just stepped out, dialing her mum's number on her phone.

The girls and the Doctor stayed inside for a moment. "Are you going to invite her to come with us?" Sonya asked him.

"I don't know." The Doctor admitted. "I was thinking of doing just that but—"

"But what?" Cassidy asked. "She's smart, she's got better observation skills than you do, and she's brave. Brave enough to try and save your life and mine when she could've died, hadn't she made it."

"Point taken. I'll ask her." The Doctor sauntered off, and the girls stayed back as he asked Rose. After a moment, the Doctor shut the door, and walked back to the console, pushing buttons, flicking switches and pulling levers. The TARDIS dematerialised.

"She said no?" Camyl guessed.

"It's her loss." The Doctor said. "So, where do you want to go next?"

"Did you mention this was a time machine?" Cassidy asked.

"No."

"Ask again." All three girls said at once.

"I don't ask twice."

"Ask again." The girls repeated.

The Doctor looked at them, before sighing, and choosing his destination. He walked back to the door, and said, "By the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?"

He walked back in, the door wide open, and grinning like mad. "She agreed, didn't she?" Cass asked smugly.

"Well I hope so. It would look bad if I just assume she does and leave the door open for her when she doesn't, wouldn't it? Terrible for my reputation." He said. Seconds later, Rose ran inside, just to find the whole crew grinning at her.


	3. The End of the World (Cassidy)

**A/N: I just wanted to thank you for the reviews—I hadn't seen them before I posted the last chapter (I'm either really stupid or blind, I'm not sure). So, thank you! And, to answer Nemaides, in this fic I'll probably bring Ten for the Children in Need special plus the Christmas Invasion, but this is season 1, so it will be mainly Nine and Rose, plus the three OCs. But I do plan on writing all the seasons, so in different stories, I'll have Ten and Eleven as well. One season per story :D And I know Nine is a bit OOC, thank you EmojiFreak for pointing it out, but he was in the show for one season only, so I don't really know how to write him. I'll do my best to write him better, though. Also, I forgot the disclaimer so I'm going to do it now. Sorry for the long A/N, and enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Doctor Who or the characters (I just own Camyl, Cassidy and Sonya), otherwise I wouldn't be writing fanfics, now, would I?**

**The End of the World (Cassidy).**

**Song: **_Doctor Who Theme (Album Version), _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

Rose ran up to the console, and grabbed one side of it. The other girls did too, while the Doctor just grinned at the blonde. "Right then, Rose Tyler—you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. What's it going to be?"

"Forwards." Rose replied.

Cassidy observed what the Doctor did, made mental notes about what those buttons and switches could be, how they worked. "How far?" The Doctor asked.

"One hundred years." Rose picked randomly. The Doctor pulled a lever and turned a knob. Cassidy guessed the knob was for the number of years they would be traveling.

The TARDIS shook a little as it moved through time, and then stopped. "There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century." The Doctor said.

"You're kidding." Rose said.

"He's not." Sonya replied.

"That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?" The Doctor asked.

"Fine by me!"

The TARDIS shook again as it moved through the Time Vortex. "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12 005, the New Roman Empire."

"Cool!" Camyl exclaimed.

"Boring." Cassidy singsonged.

"You think you're so impressive." Rose teased the Time Lord.

"I _am_ so impressive!" The Doctor replied, offended.

"You wish!"

"Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!" The Doctor started the engine again. Cassidy closed her eyes. It was like she could see the TARDIS flying through the Time Vortex, just like in the show. It made her smile.

And then, the TARDIS stopped.

"Where are we?" Rose asked. The Doctor, instead of replying, gestured toward the doors. Rose was grinning. "What's out there?" The Doctor just kept gesturing, so Rose walked out. The Doctor followed, but the three fangirls stayed behind.

"So? What do we do?" Camyl asked.

"I think one of us should go with the Doctor, the other with Rose, and the other could save the Steward and that plumber—I forgot her name." Cassidy proposed.

"I was about to propose the same thing." Sonya admitted.

"We have the same mind." Cassidy said.

"Yup."

"I could try to save the Steward and the plumber." Camyl proposed.

"All right, I'll go with Rose." Sonya said.

"And I'll stay with the Doctor. Now let's go." Cassidy grinned excitedly, and practically ran out the TARDIS doors.

The Doctor was speaking. "You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day... Hold on..." The Doctor looked at his watch. "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

* * *

**Song: **_Cassandra's Waltz, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

"Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite." A computer voice says.

"So, when it says 'guests' does that mean people?" Rose asked.

"Depends what you mean by people." Sonya replied.

"I mean people. What do you mean?" Rose looked at the group curiously.

"Aliens." They all answered at the same time.

"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose asked.

The Doctor opened a door with his sonic screwdriver. "It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

"What for?" Rose asked.

"Fun." Cassidy replied. To be honest, she didn't like the idea of watching a planet burn or otherwise. Not for fun. If it was to honor the planet, she wouldn't mind that much, but for fun? _It's like watching a living creature die. _She thought grimly. _For fun._

The door opened, and the group entered a large observation gallery. "Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." The Doctor corrected himself.

"Isn't it always like that?" Cassidy asked, still a bit grim.

"But, hold on, they did this once on 'Newsround Extra'—the sun expanding—that takes hundreds of years." Rose remarked.

"Millions. But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" Cassidy points at some lights orbiting the planet. "Gravity satellite. That's holding back the sun."

"The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things." Rose said.

"They did. And the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!" The Doctor replied.

"How long has it got?" Rose asks.

The Time Lord looked at his watch. "About half an hour. And the planet gets roasted."

"Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you lot do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

"We're not saving it." Camyl said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Time's up."

"But what about the people?" Rose asked.

"It's empty! They're all gone. All left." The Doctor answered.

"Just us then." Rose glanced at the other three girls, before looking back at the Earth, sadness filling her eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" They heard a voice behind them, and they turned to see who it was. It was the Steward—he didn't have a name, not even in the credits—the one the girls wanted to save.

"Oh! That's nice, thanks." The Doctor said.

"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!" The Steward exclaimed.

"That's me, I'm a guest, look! I've got an invitation!" The Doctor flashed his psychic paper. "Look, there you see? It's fine, see? The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler. She's my plus one. That all right?"

"And I'm Camyl Smith." Camyl flashed her psychic paper. "See? It says Camyl Smith and family. These are my cousins, Cassidy and Sonya." The girl pointed at her friends. "I hope that's all right."

"Well... Obviously." The Doctor and the three fangirls grinned. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on-board, we'd better start. Enjoy." The Steward walked off. Camyl and the Doctor showed Rose their psychic papers.

"The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever we want them to see. Saves a lot of time." The Doctor explained.

"He's blue." Rose said, looking at the Steward.

"Yup." Cassie nodded.

"Okay…"

At the other end of the suite, the Steward approached a microphone, and spoke through the speakers. "We have in attendance, the Doctor and Rose Tyler, and Camyl Smith and cousins Cassidy and Sonya. Thank you! All staff to their positions." He clapped his hands, and little blue people—the staff—ran around the room, assuming their positions. "Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along! And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa." The Trees walked through the door. "There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor and the girls smiled, while Rose looked stunned. "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."

"Seriously?" Cassidy didn't even bother to retain her laughter at the ridiculous name.

"The inventors of hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you! Cal 'Spark Plug'. Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light." As he named them, new aliens entered through the doors.

Jabe and the other Trees approaches the group. "The Gift of Peace." She gives the Doctor and Camyl a plant. "I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."

"Thank you!" The Doctor and Camyl smile and say at the same time. The Doctor passes the gift to Rose. "Yes, gifts... erm..."

Camyl looks at her friends in horror. They didn't have any gifts. Cassidy most certainly didn't want to offer air from her lungs. She searched her pockets, but found nothing. As the Doctor gave Jabe air from his lungs, Sonya rolled her eyes at her friends, earning a glare from Cassidy.

"At least I'm prepared for this." She mumbled so low only Cassidy and Camyl could hear her. After Jabe and the Doctor were done flirting, Sonya extended her hand, a bracelet on it. "This is one of Earth's old valuable objects. A very old bracelet from the 21st Century, kept in my family for generations."

"Oh, thank you." Jabe sounded pleased. Sonya smiled at her as she left.

"I almost said regenerations instead of generations." Sonya admitted, chuckling under her breath. Cassidy didn't bother to try to hide her chuckle.

"That can only happen to you." She shook her head.

"Oi!"

"Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Bo." The Steward finally said. Sonya and Cassidy started hitting each other, the way they would do if they wanted the other to notice something they had.

"That's—" Sonya started.

"—the Face—" Cassidy continued.

"—of Boe—" Sonya.

"—which means—" Cassidy.

Both girls turned to face each other, and grinned. "Captain Jack!" They both said at the same time.

"What do you mean—that can't be—" Camyl's eyes widened. "But—"

"Spoilers." Both girls interrupted, and grinned at the Face of Boe.

_Hello ladies. Long time no see._

That most definitely was the Face of Boe, talking in her head. Or, well, probably hers and her friends' as well. Cassidy's grin widened, if possible, and the girl tried to refrain herself from squealing. Laughing was one thing, she'd learned, and squealing was another. She'd learnt to contain her squeals because otherwise, she'd probably end up in a mental ward.

The three girls grinned at each other, though Camyl was still confused.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor said, and the girls turned to see the aliens talking to them.

"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva." He spit into Rose's left eye, and into Sonya's right one. Both girls exchanged a disgusted look as they rubbed the spit out of their eyes.

The Doctor and Cassidy laughed, while Camyl tried to suppress a chuckle, but failed miserably. "Thank you very much." The Doctor said.

"Your gift is very appreciated." Camyl smiled.

They left, and other aliens approached them. "Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." The Doctor breathed heavily all over them.

"A gift of peace in all good faith." The Adherent handed out two silver eggs—one for the Doctor and the other for Camyl. Instead of Camyl, though, Sonya reached out and took the egg.

"Thank you." Cassidy forced herself to smile and not smash the egg and yell "THIS IS A BLOODY TRAP, GET RID OF THOSE EGG THINGS RIGHT NOW!", but instead she looked for something in her pockets, just in case she missed something, and came up with a key. Her mother's house key, she assumed, and gave it to them. "This is a key from the 20th century, found before the planet was completely empty by one of my ancestors." _Liar liar, mum on fire_, a voice sang in her head, and the image of Mary Winchester burning on the ceiling appeared in her mind. She pushed it away. It most definitely was _not_ the time to think about _Supernatural_.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human."

As Cassandra entered, the three girls chuckled, while Rose looked shocked. Cassandra was a large skin layer with eyes and mouth with red lipstick on.

"Cassandra Lasagna." Sonya whispered to her best friends, and their chuckles turned into laughter, two of them tried to hide, but Cassidy didn't bother, as usual.

"The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen." The Steward finished his introduction.

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am." Cassandra said. The Doctor laughed while Cassidy rolled her eyes. Those kind of girls would never stop existing. "Thin and dainty! I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." Her servants—if that's what they were—did. "Truly, I am The Last Human."

Rose walked around her to get a better angle of Cassandra. Cassidy knew what she would see. The woman—if she could be called that—was completely flat. She was just a layer of skin with a big ego.

"My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." Cassidy couldn't help but wonder if Cassandra was telling the truth. "I have come to honour them and..." She sniffed. "...say goodbye. Oh, no tears." One of her servants wiped her tears. "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself—the last remaining ostrich egg." Some of the staff came in, bringing the supposedly ostrich egg with them. Rose and the three girls just looked at the egg confusedly. "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils." Again, the confusion. "Or was that my third husband?"

The Doctor laughed, but Rose and Cassidy rolled their eyes.

"Actually, the creature with a wingspan of 50 feet that blows fire from its nostrils is a dragon. Not an ostrich." Sonya corrected, but none of the guests—except her friends, including the Doctor and Rose, and apparently Jack—paid her attention.

_You're right, Nya. That's a dragon. Also, I'm not sure that's an ostrich egg. What do you think, girls?_

The grisl exchanged glances. Why was Jack talking to them?

_Oh, don't be like that! Like I said, it's been a long time since I've seen you. We deserve to have a proper chat, don't you think?_

_ Talking to a giant face that might not answer me in front of a lot of people, _Cassidy thought. _Yup, I'm gonna end up in a mental hospital._

_ Oh, don't be like that, Cassie! _Cassidy swore she could _hear_ Jack pouting.

"Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" Cassandra complained, breaking her away from her conversation with Jack. She laughed for a few seconds before a jukebox was brought in. "And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod." Cassidy snorted. "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers."

"That's not an iPod, that's a jukebox." Sonya complained. Again, no one but Jack and her friends paid her attention.

_I know, Nya, I know. _Cassidy would be lying if she said she wasn't happy to hear Jack's voice, even if a bit unrecognisable because—well, the Face of Boe was very old. _Hey!_ Jack complained.

"Play on!" Cassandra ordered. _Tainted Love_, by Soft Cell started playing. The Doctor seemed to enjoy the musc.

"That is not exactly classical music but never mind." Sonya said, sighing because she was sure she'd be ignored again. At least that's what Cassidy guessed. She knew she would either do the same thing or just start shouting so they'd listen to her, but what good would that do?

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes." The Steward announced.

Rose looked around, before rushing off, overwhelmed. Camyl and Sonya followed, and Cassidy stayed with the Doctor, who was about to go after Rose, hadn't Jabe stopped him.

"Doctor? Cassidy?" She took a picture of him, and then of Cass. "Thank you." And then both the Time Lord and the human exited the room.

* * *

**Song: **_Rose's Theme, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

After reporting to the Steward's office and supervising the parking of the TARDIS, the Doctor and Cassidy could finally try to find Rose, who was chatting with Sonya in one of the viewing galleries.

"So? What did we miss?" Cassidy asked as she sat down on one of the steps, besides Sonya. The Doctor sat down next to Rose.

"I was about to argue with the Doctor here, but Sonya convinced me it was a bad idea." Rose replied.

"Why were you going to argue with me?" The Doctor asked.

"Because you haven't told me who you are and because apparently your machine gets inside my brain." Rose answered.

"Yeah, she was surprised because the aliens spoke English and I had to tell her about the TARDIS telepathic field that translates languages you don't understand for you." Sonya explained.

"Besides, it's bad idea to argue with the designated driver." Rose took out her mobile phone. "Can't exactly call for a taxi... There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit!"

"Well, we're 5 billion years in the future and not even in planet Earth. Being out of range is completely normal." Cassidy pointed out.

"Tell you what…" The Doctor picked up Rose's mobile. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery..." He removed the back of the phone.

"Is that a technical term, 'jiggery pokery'?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?"

"Nah, failed hullabaloo." The blonde replied.

"Ooh." The Doctor changed the battery for one in his pocket. "There you go."

Rose looked at him, a bit uncertain, but in the end she stood up and moved away from the group to call her mum. Cassidy didn't blame her. If someone came up to her and took her time traveling and said they could give her a phone that could call through time and space, she wouldn't believe it either.

"Well, don't you want mobile phones like that?" The Doctor asked the girls. They exchanged a look before giving him their phones. He replaced the batteries as well. "You won't be able to call back to your universe, though." He added in an afterthought.

"That's all right." Cassidy said. She didn't mind. She didn't exactly keep in touch with her family.

"What about Camyl, where is she?" The Doctor suddenly seemed to remember that there were four girls traveling with him.

"Oh, she's gone exploring." Sonya replied. It wasn't exactly a lie. She didn't know where the Steward's office was so she would have to explore Platform One in order to find him.

The Doctor nodded. Rose finished her call, walked back to where the group was, and sat down, stunned.

"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." The Doctor told her.

"That was 5 billion years ago. So... She's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead." Rose said.

"Oh, you're a cheery one." Cassidy noticed.

Just then, the ship shuddered. Cass and Sonya exchanged a look. "That's not supposed to happen..." The Doctor said, looking curious and pleased.

"I wouldn't look pleased if I were you." Cass stood up. "What are you waiting for? Come on!" She walked out of the viewing gallery. She just hoped Camyl would get to the Steward's office in time.

* * *

**Song: **_The Doctor's Theme, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

They went back to the main room. The Doctor knew something was wrong because, well, he just knew. Cassidy and Sonya knew something was wrong because of the TV show.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." The Doctor was saying as they walked inside. Seconds later, Camyl caught up with them, pulling her friends aside.

"How did it go?" Sonya asked.

Camyl shook her head. "Raffalo is alive, but the Steward is dead. I got to him in time but he wouldn't open the doors." Cassidy connected the dots. Raffalo had to be the plumber.

"At least you saved one of them." Cass tried to cheer up her best friend.

"Yeah. We can't save everyone." Sonya said. "We can try but…" She trailed off.

"Whatever I am, it must be invisible, do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate, I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson." Cassidy heard Rose say.

"The Doc's gonna go so I better go with him. Keep an eye on Rosie and Cassandra Lasagna, would you?" Cassidy asked them, but didn't wait for an answer.

"And I want you home by midnight!" Rose called out to the Doctor, who grinned at the blonde before walking toward the doors.

"Oi, Doctor! Forgot about me, did ya?" Cassidy approached the pair. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the maintenance duct." Jabe replied.

"Oh, sounds fun." Cassidy grinned.

"Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes." The computer announced, and Cassidy's grin faltered.

They walked into the corridor. Cass had a feeling spiders were around them. No, she _knew_ they were. They had to be. They were all over the place, all over the observation deck, trying to kill them all. "Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a captain or something?" She asked Jabe, in order to push those thoughts out of her mind.

"There's just the steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal man." Jabe said. Cassidy resisted the urge to correct her. The Steward was dead, so there was just the staff.

"You mean the computer? But who controls that?" The Doctor asked.

"The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another." Jabe replied.

There was a pause, and Cassidy could practically see the gears turning in the Doctor's head. "But there's no one from the Corporation on board." He finally said.

"They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong." Jabe informed.

"Unsinkable?" The Doctor asked.

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate."

"They said the same thing about the Titanic. Look where it ended up. And I'm guessing this ship or observation deck or whatever it is, is Titanic-unsinkable, not actually-unsinkable." Cassidy said. Jabe didn't get the reference, but the Doctor did.

"Exactly. So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?" He asked Jabe.

"I'm afraid not."

The Doctor and Cassidy grinned at each other. "Fantastic!" They both exclaimed at the same time, before continuing their way.

"I don't understand. In what way is _that_ fantastic?" Jabe asked.

Cass and the Doctor didn't answer. They just continued to make their way down the corridor, as silence settled over them. Cassidy didn't like silence, and she was about to make a comment, just to break it, when the Doctor did it for her.

"So, tell me, Jabe. What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?" The Doctor asked.

"Respect for the Earth." Jabe replied, but both Cassidy and the Doctor knew that wasn't the case.

"Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions." Cassidy protested.

"Well... Perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions." Jabe corrected.

"In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land." The Doctor said.

"All the same. You respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below. And I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest." The Doctor looked impressed at that. Cassidy didn't really care.

"Excuse me." The Doctor stopped. He took out his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and sonic-ed the screen of a control panel.

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two... Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left..."

The Doctor didn't respond. Cassidy had the urge to stop her. The Doctor didn't want to talk about it, why did she have to press the matter? But she kept quiet, which was very out of character for her. She usually said what she thought, and damned the consequences.

She sighed, and walked away from them, though she could still hear them talking. Cassidy stopped in front of the door the Doctor was trying to open. She scanned it with her vortex manipulator, which took her a while, because she still had to discover how to use her new gadget, but in the end she managed to scan it, and was about to enter the recently found combination on the panel to open the door, when the Doctor finished his sonic-ing, and the door opened.

Cassidy was happy with herself. She'd managed to tune out the conversation between the Doctor and Jabe, and she'd learned how to scan things with her vortex manipulator. She was grinning when she entered the ventilation chamber.

"Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?" The Doctor asked as he and Jabe entered the room.

"Well, it's a ventilation chamber. With huge fans and everything. Yeah, I think it's _supposed_ to be a bit 'nippy' in here." Cassidy replied. She scanned a panel with her vortex manipulator.

"Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of, nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it 'retro'." The Doctor rambled. He approached the panel, but stopped when he noticed Cassidy was already on it, and he raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't say anything, just detached the panel, and one of the metal spiders came out and hurried to the wall.

"What the hell's that?" The Doctor asked.

"It's called a metal spider, Doctor." Cassidy said slowly, as if talking to a child. "Surely, even though it doesn't have eight legs, it resembles a spider."

"Is it part of the 'retro'?" Jabe asked.

"No." Cassidy shook her head. "That's a pet someone brought on board."

"Hold on." The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the spider, and Cassidy turned around and checked the inside of the panel again, to check the damage the spider had done, when she heard some sort of snap and she turned to watch the spider fall. "Hey! Nice liana!" The Doctor complimented.

"Thank you! We're not supposed to show them in public." Jabe said.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." The Doctor told her.

"When you've finished flirting, you might want to scan the spider, Doctor." Cassidy rolled her eyes at the couple.

"Now, then. Who's been bringing the pets on board?" He ignored her.

"What does it do?" Jabe asked.

"Sabotage." The Doctor and Cassidy said at the same time.

"Earth Death in 10 minutes." The computer voice announced.

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on." The Doctor ran out of the chamber, and Cassidy was the first one to follow him.

* * *

**Song: **_I am the Doctor, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 5 Soundtrack.

The Doctor went one way, and Cassidy went in another. She was looking for Sonya and Rose, making sure they weren't captured by those alien robots—she was too lazy to learn their names… Adherents of the Something Meme, she thought, not quite recalling the actual name—when she heard a noise. Someone was pounding on one of the doors. But she didn't hear Rose's voice. It was Sonya's.

"Oh, come on!" She heard her best friend yell. "There _has_ to be someone out there!"

"How come you got caught?" Cassidy called out as she scanned the panel with her manipulator. "Is Rose with you?"

"I was talking to Rose—it took me by surprise. It didn't come out in front of us, but behind." Sonya explained. "And no, she isn't. She's probably in another one of the viewing galleries."

"Okay, I think I've got it. The door's probably gonna close as soon as I open it so you'll have to be fast." Cassidy paused. "_Very_ fast."

"Do it." Sonya said. Cassidy pushed a few buttons and the door opened. Sonya practically jumped from one side of the door to the other, and immediately after, the door closed in a second. "Well, that was close." Sonya sighed in relief.

"Sun-filter descending. Sun-filter descending." The computer said from a room nearby.

"Let me out!" It was Rose's voice.

"Sun-filter descending." The computer repeated.

"Let me out, let me out!" Rose, again.

The girls exchanged a look, and they ran over to the other room. Cassidy started working on her vortex manipulator on the panel. When the Doctor got there, he pushed Cassidy aside, who glared at him so bad that if looks could kill, the Doctor would be dead already.

"Anyone in there?" The Doctor asked. He was sonic-ing the panel, ignoring Cassidy who wanted to use her vortex manipulator on it, as she'd been doing seconds ago.

"Let me out!" Rose was frantic, pounding on the doors as well.

"Oh, well, it would be you." The Doctor commented, but didn't notice Cassidy and Sonya glaring at him.

"It's okay, Rose. The Doctor's trying to get the sun-filter to rise." Sonya called out, trying to calm the girl down.

"Open the door!" Rose ignored her.

"Hold on! Give us two ticks!" The Doctor called out.

The computer kept saying, "Sun-filter descending. Sun-filter descending."

"Oh, come on!" Cassidy burst out. "I'd have done that seconds ago, hurry up!"

Just then, the Doctor looked up expectantly, and the computer said, "Sun-filter rising. Sun-filter rising."

"You were saying?" He turned back to Cassidy, looking pleased with himself.

"Sun-filter rising... Sun-filter descending." The computer changed again.

"You were saying?" Cassidy mocked him.

"This is just what we need. The computer's getting clever." The Doctor complained.

"Will you stop mucking about?!" Rose called out.

"I'm not mucking about, it's fighting back!" The Doctor replied.

"Oh, scoot over, let me help you." Cassidy knelt next to the Doctor and used her vortex manipulator to scan the panel, and next she was pressing a few buttons. The Doctor sonic-ed the lower part of the panel, where all the wires were.

"Open the door!" Rose shouted.

"Hang on!" Sonya replied. "Cassidy joined the Doctor. Between the two of them, they'll get you out!"

There was a pause, before Rose shouted, "The locks melted!" She sounded more distant, so Cassidy guessed she'd already moved to the lowest part of the room and flattened herself to the ground.

"We're working—shush!" She shushed the girl.

"Sun-filter descending. Sun-filter descending." The computer voice said.

"Yes, we know! Shut up!" Cassidy shouted at the computer, before scanning the panel again, and the Doctor continued sonic-ing the lower part. Cassidy pressed more buttons. The Time Lord ended up jamming his sonic inside, and finally, the computer voice said,

"Sun-filter rising. Sun-filter rising."

Cassidy tried to open the doors, but it didn't work. She exchanged a look with the Doctor, who shook his head. He couldn't open it either. "The whole thing's jammed. We can't open the doors." She informed Rose.

"Stay there! Don't move!" The Doctor ordered as he hurried out.

"Where're am I gonna go?! Ipswich?!" Rose called out, still sarcastic even though she was terrified.

"I'll stay with Rose. Go!" Sonya told her, and Cassidy nodded, before running after him. At least Rose wouldn't be waiting alone.

* * *

**Song: **_The Cybermen, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

"The spiders are all over the place, all over Platform One." Camyl was announcing to the guests, after receiving a nod from Jabe.

"How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me." Cassandra ordered.

"Summon the Steward!" The Moxx of Whatever—Cassidy hadn't bothered to learn the name of any of the species—ordered.

"The Steward's dead." Cassidy informed flatly, even though that wasn't really how he felt about the Steward's death.

Everyone gasped, which was so typical Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"Who killed him?" Again, the Moxx of Whatever asked.

_The Moxx of Balhoon_, she heard Jack correct her. Again, she rolled her eyes.

_Whatever._

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe! He invited us!" Cassandra complained. Jack—the Face—shook his head, which was kinda fun to watch. "Talk to the Face! Talk to the Face!"

"Hold on! It's not Ja—the Face of Boe's fault!" Camyl complained, quickly covering up her mistake. "Trust me, I know him very well, he'd never do something like that, let alone kill himself in the process. No, someone else brought those spiders on board."

"Easy way of finding out who it is." The Doctor said, showing the spider Jabe had caught earlier. "Let's send him back to Master."

The Doctor put the spider on the floor, and the spider walked—if that's the correct word—over to Cassandra. She looked around for a moment, a bit uncomfortable, before the spider moved over to where the Adherents of the Whatever Meme were.

Cassidy just stared at Cassandra, giving her a look that clearly said "I know you're the one who brought the spiders on board". Cassandra ignored her, and watched as the spider stopped near the Adherents.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" She exclaimed, and Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"She's not even pronouncing it correctly." She mumbled under her breath. Cassidy knew French, and the words reminded her of a text written by Émile Zola, which had been published under the name of _J'accuse. _It had been a very different accusation, though. He wasn't looking to unmask whoever had brought pets on board of an observation deck that were about to kill them all.

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." The Doctor trailed off as one of the Adherents tried to strike him, but he just caught the arm and ripped it off. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea." The Doctor looked at the arm, and ripped out a wire. All the Adherents fell to the floor. Everyone gasped. Cassidy wasn't the only one who rolled her eyes at that. So did Cassandra. "Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" The Time Lord pushed the spider with his foot. "Go home!"

And the spider went home. It stopped right in front of Cassandra. "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed." The Doctor raised his eyebrows, and Cassidy rolled her eyes. If she kept rolling her eyes so much, she'd get a headache. "At arms!"

Her two servants or bodyguards or whatever, raised their canisters and pointed them at the Doctor.

"What are you going to do, moisturize me?" The Doctor mocked, and Cassidy chuckled.

"With acid. Oh, too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face." Cassandra said.

"You're not pretty!" Camyl protested. "You're not even a proper human being!"

"Well, you might be pretty in a world where all humans are as flat as you are, but… Well, we don't live in a world like that." Cassidy shrugged.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?" The Doctor asked.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous." Cassandra admitted.

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money." The Doctor said, disapprovingly.

"Doesn't it always?" Cassidy asked, also disapproving.

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am The Last Human, Doctor. Me. Not any of those freaky little kids of yours." Cassandra glared.

"Arrest her!" The Moxx of Whatever said.

"Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option." Cassandra admitted.

"Earth Death in 3 minutes." The computer said.

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn.'"

"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but... I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders—activate!" There were explosions around the ship. "Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She giggled. "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings..." Cassandra and her servants disappeared.

"Heat levels rising." The computer said.

"Reset the computer!" The Moxx of Whatever—_Balhoon_, Jack insisted—proposed.

"Only the Steward would know how." Jabe said.

"No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, Cassidy, come on." Before leaving, he turned back, and said, "You lot—just chill!" And he and Jabe hurried out.

Cassidy turned to her friend, just before she left. "Are you coming?"

Camyl shook her head. "Do you really think they are going to, 'just chill'? I'll try to calm them down."

"All right, then. Wish me luck." Cassidy grinned at her friend and ran out of the room.

* * *

**Song: **_Slitheen, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

"Earth Death in 2 minutes. Earth Death in 2 minutes." The computer said. Cassidy had caught up with the Doctor and Jabe, and they ran along the maintenance corridor. "Heat levels—critical. Heat levels—critical."

The team reached the ventilation chamber. "Oh. And guess where the switch is." The Doctor looked at the switch, which was by the opposite wall. And between that wall and the door were all the huge fans.

"Heat levels—rising. Heat levels—rising." The computer said. _As if we need a constant reminder_, Cassidy thought grimly. The Doctor pulled down a lever, and the fans slowed down, enough for someone to go through them, one at a time. "External temperature—five thousand degrees." He let go of the lever, and the fans sped up again.

Jabe pulled the lever back down. "You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place." The Doctor protested.

"I know." Jabe nodded.

"Jabe, you're made of wood." The Doctor reminded her.

"I'll do it." Cassidy offered, taking hold of the lever. Jabe didn't let go. "I don't want you to die, and you will if you don't let me take your place." Cassie told her, being completely honest. Jabe hesitated, before removing her hand. "And now you better hurry up, 'cause I don't want to get burnt." She told the Doctor, who grinned, and ran back to the fans.

"Heat levels—rising. Heat levels—rising." The computer said, and Cassidy gritted her teeth, otherwise she'd yell at the computer again, which wouldn't do any good. "Heat levels—hazardous. Heat levels—hazardous"

The Doctor dodged the first fan and ran underneath, looking up at the second fan when he was through with the first.

"Shields malfunctioning. Shields malfunctioning." A pause. "Heat levels—critical. Heat levels—critical."

The Doctor dodged the second fan, and ran underneath.

"Heat levels—rising. Heat levels—rising."

The lever became hotter, and Cassidy winced at the sudden pain. "Doctor, hurry up!" She shouted.

It was the last fan, it shouldn't have been hard, yet the Doctor looked back at her, to see what was wrong.

"Stop wasting time you bloody—" Her curse was interrupted by her hand burning so badly, she retired it with a cry of pain. "Bollocks. Hold on!" The girl took a deep breath. "You better be prepared to walk through." She called out. Another deep breath. "Three… Two… One…" She counted, and before she could change her mind, she pulled the lever down with her other hand, the one that didn't have a nasty burn.

"Planet explodes in 10... 9... 8... 7…"

"Doctor!" Cassidy yelled, and turned to look at the Doctor, as he walked underneath the last fan. When he was on the other side, she released the lever, and took a shaky breath. Now both her hands had nasty burns.

"6… 5… 4…" The computer continued, but the Doctor pulled down the switch. "3…"

"Raise shields!" He yelled, as the computer counted 2 seconds to go.

"1…"

Nothing happened.

The shields were raised, and the Doctor walked through the fans without a problem. Since there wasn't such heat, the fans weren't moving so fast they could've chopped to pieces whoever walked through.

Cassidy turned back, to see Jabe had disappeared. She'd probably gone back to the Manchester Suite. The Doctor approached her.

"Are you all right?"

Cassidy raised an eyebrow, and showed him her burnt hands. "I'll live. Now move—we've got to bring Cassandra back."

* * *

**Song: **_Rose in Peril, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

The Doctor and Cassidy walked back into the main room. The girl sighed, relieved, when she saw Jabe talking to her companions. Cassidy lingered where Rose and Sonya were. She looked around. Camyl was sitting near the Face of Boe. The two of them were probably talking. As soon as Camyl spotted her, she gave the Face a last smile before walking back to where her friends were. The Doctor turned back to them.

"You all right?" Rose asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one—teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two—this feed must be hidden nearby." He walked over to the ostrich egg, and broke it. The feed fell out of the egg, and the Doctor picked it up. "Idea number three—if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He twisted the feed, and Cassandra appeared in the middle of the room.

Cassidy wasn't pleased to see Cassandra again.

"Ah, you should have seen their little alien faces—" She stopped herself when she saw her new surroundings. "Oh."

"Welcome back, Cassandra. Did you enjoy our trip? 'Cause I definitely didn't enjoy mine." Cassidy glared at her.

"The Last Human." The Doctor said.

"So. You passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er... The Human Club." Cassandra improvised.

"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." Sonya glared at Cassandra. "And before you say anything, by people I mean every living creature in here." The Steward wasn't the only casualty. Some of the aliens in the Suite also died because of the heat the Doctor almost couldn't prevent. Cassidy glared at Cassandra.

"Take me to court then! And watch me smile, and cry, and flutter..."

"And creak?" The Doctor asked.

"And what?"

"Creak. You're creaking." Cassidy pointed out.

Cassandra's skin tightened. Her veins—if that's what they were—became more noticeable, and she paled. "What? Ah! Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor reminded her.

"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, Doctor!" Cassandra pleaded.

"Help her." Rose asked.

"Please, Doctor." Camyl was on Rose's side, but Cassidy was on the Doctor's.

"Everything has its time and everything dies." The Doctor and Cass said.

"I'm... too... _young_!" And she exploded. Cassidy didn't react. Neither did the Doctor, who left the room after that. Cassidy followed, barely aware that the other three girls stayed inside the room.

* * *

**Song: **_The Face of Boe, _Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

When the Doctor and Cassidy came back into the room, it was all empty, except for Rose, Camyl and Sonya.

"The end of the Earth. It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go." Rose lamented when the Doctor and Cass joined them. "All those years... All that history and no one was even looking. It's just..." Rose trailed off.

The other two girls looked sad, yes, but not as sad as Rose. The Doctor held out his hand. "Come with me."

Rose, uncertain, took his hand, and followed the Doctor as he led her back to the TARDIS.

"Come on." Cassidy said softly, and her two best friends followed her back to the ship.

They didn't speak, and for once, Cassie was afraid to break the silence. The Doctor drove the TARDIS back to the Earth, where, and when everyone was alive. The Doctor and Rose walked out, but the other girls stayed. Camyl walked over to one of the interior doors, probably going to her room.

"They might call us for chips." Cassidy reminded her. "Don't you want to come?"

"No, I'll—I'll be in my bedroom. Just… Call me when you get back." Camyl smiled weakly, before leaving the room.

Cass turned to Sonya. "You're not abandoning me, are you?"

"No." Sonya shook her head. "It's just… I never thought I'd see the Earth go—well, I didn't exactly _see_ it but—"

"I get it." Cassie nodded, interrupting her best friend.

They stayed in silent. Cassidy wasn't afraid to break the silence this time. She just didn't want to. Her friend was lost in thoughts anyway. It would be like talking to herself.

Then, the door opened, and the Doctor and Rose poked their heads in. "We're going for some chips—are you coming?" Rose asked them.

"Sure." Cassidy grinned, her good mood slowly returning.

"Might as well." Sonya stood up. "I'm a bit hungry."

"Camyl isn't coming?" Rose asked.

"No, she's not feeling well." Sonya replied. "Let's go, then." She clapped her hands together, and made her way out of the TARDIS, Cassidy following. She hoped going for some chips with the Doctor and Rose would cheer them up. And it did.


	4. The Unquiet Dead (Sonya)

**A/N: I'm SO SO SO sorry! It's been a while since I've updated and I've got not excuse. SORRY SORRY SORRY! Also, I want to thank my new beta Can'tlivewithoutJanto. Hope you like this chapter!**

**The Unquiet Dead (Sonya).**

**Song:** _Doctor Who Theme (Album Version)_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

"Hold that one down!" The Doctor told Cassidy. The TARDIS was shaking uncontrollably, and everyone was doing their best to travel smoothly, with no real success. Sonya thought it was because the Doctor was purposely avoiding the right levers, the stabilizing ones, so the ride would be more... "fun".

"I can't! I'm already holding this one down!" Cassidy replied.

"Well, hold them _both_ down!" The Doctor said.

"Why don't you tell Camyl to hold it down? She's closer to it." Cassidy proposed, glaring at the time lord. Camyl held the lever down.

"It's not going to work!" Rose exclaimed.

"Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?" The Doctor asked.

"What happened in 1860?" Rose asked.

"Nothing interesting. Remember the research we had to do when we were in high school?" She asked Camyl.

"Yep." She nodded. "Nothing interesting happened."

The Doctor ignored both girls as he answered Rose's question, "I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!" The Doctor abandoned his lever, and Sonya almost let go of hers to catch his. He pressed a button, and grinned, as the TARDIS started to move faster, now with an actual destination.

* * *

**Song:** _Seeking the Doctor_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

When the TARDIS landed, they were all on the ground, laughing. The console was steaming.

"Blimey!" Rose said, standing up.

"You're telling me! Are you alright?" The Doctor said, looking at the four girls.

"Fine." Cassidy practically jumped on her feet.

"I'm all right." Camyl said, pushing herself up.

"Everything okay." Sonya leant over against the console.

"Yeah. I think so! Nothing broken." Rose stood up. "Did we make it? Where are we?"

"I did it! Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860." The Doctor said, looking at his screen. He folded his arms across his chest. Sonya suppressed a chuckle.

"That's so weird... It's Christmas." Rose said, smiling.

The Doctor gestured towards the door. "All yours."

Rose stared at the door for a moment. "But, it's like..." She looked back at the Doctor. "Think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once. Just once, and it's gone. It's finished. It'll never happen again. Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone and a hundred thousand sunsets ago... No wonder you never stay still."

"Not a bad life." The Doctor replies.

"Better with five." Rose grins. "Right girls?" The three fangirls agree. They stayed still, no one moving, until, "Come on then!" Rose ran to the doors.

"Oi, oi, oi! Where do you think you're going?!" The Doctor called out after her.

Rose stopped, and turned to face him. "1860."

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella! There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, it's the fifth door on your left. Hurry up!" He then turned to the three girls. "You too, go on!" The four girls were on their way soon enough.

It didn't take them long—well, to get dressed. It did take them long to find dresses because the Doctor's wardrobe was huge, but is also a complete mess. Rose ended up wearing a black top with a pink, long skirt. Camyl went for a dark green dress that would've matched her eyes, had they not been so unpredictable. That was the problem with hazel eyes. Sonya had gone for a black long skirt and a blue top, an outfit that resembled Rose's. Cassidy, however, being the stubborn college girl that she was, put on black trousers and a grey top. All girls also wore something to cover themselves with. Christmas in the North hemisphere? It was probably cold.

They joined the Doctor sooner than he expected, and found him doing what Sonya thought were unnecessary repairs to the TARDIS.

"Blimey!" The Doctor said when he saw Rose.

"Don't laugh!" Rose said, laughing a little.

"You look beautiful!" The Doctor exclaimed. Rose stopped laughing, but the smile remained on her face. There's a pause, before the Doctor looks away, "Considering."

Cassidy rolls her eyes at that. The Doctor turns on his sonic screwdriver again. "Considering what?" Rose asked.

The Doctor stopped sonic-ing and looked up at Rose. "That you're human!"

"I _think_ that's a compliment." Rose said to the other three girls. "Aren't you going to change?" She asked the alien.

"I've changed my jumper! Come on!" The Doctor climbs out of the space under the console. He seemed to remember something. "Oh, right. Sonya, catch." He threw something at her, that she almost _didn't_ catch.

It was a sonic screwdriver. It was like the Doctor's, only it had a little screen for her to read in case she wanted to scan something, she assumed. She tried a setting, and the name of the setting appeared on the screen. The light of the sonic was blue, like the Doctor's, only a lighter and greener tone. She couldn't stop smiling.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Now, come on!"

But before the Doctor could even make a step towards the doors, Rose stopped him. "You, stay there!" Rose dashed to the doors. "You've done this before. This is mine!"

Rose was the first to get out of the TARDIS, followed by Camyl, the Doctor, Cassidy and Sonya, in that order.

"Ready for this?" The Doctor asked Rose, once they were all out. Rose just smiled, and he offered her his arm. "Here we go. History." And the five of them were off, to discover "Naples", in "1860".

At some point, the Doctor bought a newspaper, and decided to tell Rose the "news". "I got the flight a bit wrong." He said.

"I don't care." Rose replied.

"It's not 1860, it's 1869."

"I don't care!"

"And it's not Naples."

"I don't care!"

"It's Cardiff." The Doctor said, a strange expression on his face.

Rose paused. "Right…"

"What's so terrible about Cardiff?" Sonya asked them, but Rose was already catching up with the Doctor. With a sigh, she picked up her skirt and jogged to get to where her friends were. She probably should've put on trousers, like Cassidy. Oh well.

* * *

**Song:** _Slitheen_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack.

They were walking in no direction at all, looking around, when they heard the screaming. The Doctor had a grin on his face.

"That's more like it!" He tossed the newspaper over his shoulder, and ran off. Rose following right behind. The three girls lingered, though.

"Should we be worried that he sounds happy?" Camyl asked.

Cassidy and Sonya exchanged a look. "Nah." They decided. Cassidy ran off immediately, while Camyl and Sonya had to pick up their skirts before following the rest of the team.

They entered some sort of theatre, from which everyone was running out, sometimes screaming their heads off. That was always a sign of trouble. They entered the room to see a gas form floating around.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor said. He then looked at his right, and ran towards the man on the stage. Camyl and Cassidy followed.

Sonya was about to follow them when she heard Rose scream, "Oi! Leave her alone!" She looked to where Rose was looking to find Mr. Sneed (that was his name, right?) and Gwyneth moving the dead lady. "Doctor, I'll get 'em!" Rose called out.

"Be careful!" The Doctor told her, but she was already running through the seats, trying to catch up with them.

"Rose, wait!" Sonya called out, and ran after her.

"What are you doing?!" Rose demanded when she saw Gwyneth loading the hearse. The woman tried to block the view, so Rose wouldn't be able to see inside it. Sonya went the other way around the hearse.

"Oh, it's such a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself, me and the master will deal with it." Gwyneth said, as Sonya approached her from behind. "The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary."

Sonya took the woman's pulse. She was, indeed, dead. But she already knew that. It would be enough proof for Rose, though. "She's dead." Sonya said, making Gwyneth jump.

"My God, what did you do to her?" Rose demanded, before Sneed grabbed her from behind, covering her nose and mouth with a tissue, one probably full of drugs.

"Rose!" Sonya exclaimed, when she looked up and noticed Mr. Sneed. "Leave her alone!" Rose fainted. Sneed let go of her, and before she could move, Sonya found herself with the cloth covering her nose and mouth. She tried not to breathe, and to fight back, adrenaline and fear running through her veins, but in the end, she gasped for breath, and the darkness overtook her.

* * *

**Song:** _The Carrionites Swarm_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 3 Soundtrack.

"Sonya, wake up!" Rose shouted. "Sonya!"

Sonya opened her eyes immediately. Rose wouldn't shout unless there was danger nearby. And it came back and hit her like a lightning bolt. She jumped to her feet and ran towards the door, where Rose was.

"Let me out! Open the door!" Rose pounded on the door.

"Move!" Sonya shouted, her sonic screwdriver now in her hands. She kneeled in front of the keyhole and looked for the right setting. Rose seized a vase and threw it at one of the corpses, as the corpse of an old lady now rose to her feet. "Nope, nope." She mumbled to herself. "Nope. Aha!" She found the right setting and sonic-ed the door for about five seconds, and brusquely opened the door.

The Doctor was running to their door, and stopped immediately when he saw them. He pulled Sonya out, who pulled Rose out, and Sonya tried to close the door and lock it with her sonic, but the Doctor stopped her.

Cassidy, Camyl and Gwyneth were behind the Doctor, along with another man. Sonya recognised him as Charles Dickens. "It's a prank? It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." Dickens said.

"No, we're not. The dead are walking." The Doctor told him, before grinning at Sonya and Rose. "Hi!"

"Hi! Who's your friend?" Rose asked him.

"Charles Dickens." The Doctor answered.

"Oh. Okay." Rose looked back at the corpses that had been trying to kill her.

"Dickens!" Sonya grinned at the author. "I've read many of your stories! Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities… Next in my reading list is Great Expectations. You're brilliant!" She told him.

"Now's not the time for fangirling." Camyl told her.

"True." Sonya agreed, and looked back at the corpses.

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?" The Doctor asked the corpses.

"We're failing. Open the Rift, we're dying. Trapped in this form, cannot sustain. Help us." Just then, the gas creatures known to her as the Gelth exited the bodies and entered the gas lamps on the walls, the bodies falling to the ground unceremoniously.

* * *

**Song:** Davros, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 4 Soundtrack.

Gwyneth was serving tea while Rose ranted in Sneed's face about how she and Sonya were treated. The Doctor and the three fangirls were in the corner of the room, watching her.

"First of all you drug us, then you kidnap us, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man." Rose was furious. The Doctor snickered.

"I won't be spoken to like this!" Mr. Sneed exclaimed, offended.

"Well, tough." Sonya snapped.

"Then you stuck us in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off! And leave us to die! So come on, talk!" Rose yelled at him.

"It's not my fault, it's this house!" Everything went quiet. Everyone was listening intently. "It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back. And then the stiffs—" At the offended look on Dickens' face, he corrected himself, "—the er, dear departed started getting restless."

"Tommyrot." Dickens said, not believing the man's story.

"You witnessed it! Can't keep the beggars down, sir! They walk. And it's the queerest thing that they hang on to scraps." Mr. Sneed's voice was drowned by Gwyneth, giving the Doctor his tea.

"Two sugars, sir, just how you like it." Gwyneth said, then walked away. The Doctor looked at her curiously.

"One old fella who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service! Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir! Just as she planned." Mr. Sneed was still trying to convince Dickens of how real the situation was.

"Morbid fancy." He stood up.

"Oh, Charles, you were there." The Doctor said.

"I saw nothing but an illusion." Damn, Dickens was stubborn.

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up." The Doctor snapped, leaving Dickens completely stunned. Everything was silent. They could only hear the clock on the wall. The Doctor turned to Sneed. "What about the gas?"

Mr. Sneed shook his head. "That's new, sir, never seen anything like that." He answered.

"Means it's getting stronger, the Rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through." The Doctor said.

"What's the Rift?" Rose asked.

"Oh, I know this one!" Camyl's eyes lit up. "The Rift is a weak point in time and space, right?" She asked the Doctor, who nodded. "A connection, like, I don't know, a bridge, between this place and another. That's usually the cause of ghost stories." Camyl continued, looking proud of herself.

"That's how I got the house so cheap." Mr. Sneed said. Sonya saw Dickens walking out of the room. She turned her attention to Mr. Sneed. "Stories going back generations. Echoes in the dark. Queer songs in the air and this feeling like a... Shadow. Passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business." Mr. Sneed added when he saw Rose's look.

"I bet." Cassidy nodded.

"Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine." Sneed added. The Doctor was grinning.

* * *

**Song:** _When a River Forms_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 6 Soundtrack.

Having noticed Dickens' disappearance, Cassidy, Camyl and the Doctor went looking for him. Rose and Sonya finished their tea, and brought their cups to the kitchen, in order to help Gwyneth out.

"Please, Miss! You shouldn't be helping! It's not right!" Gwyneth said when Rose walked inside the kitchen and put her tea cup on the sink. Sonya followed and did the same. "Miss!"

"Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death." Rose tells her, a cloth in her hands. Gwyneth reaches out, but doesn't take it. Rose gives it to her, reluctantly. "How much do you get paid?" Rose asked.

"Eight pound a year, Miss." Gwyneth replied.

"How much?" Rose asked, shocked.

Gwyneth thought Rose was shocked for the wrong reason.

"I know. I would've been happy with six." Gwyneth replied, and turned around, leaving Rose bewildered.

"Remember, different times. Eight pounds must be a lot." Sonya whispered.

"Right." Rose said slowly. "So, did you go to school or what?"

"Of course I did. What do you think I am? An urchin? I went every Sunday. Nice and proper." Gwyneth answered.

"What, once a week?" Rose asked.

"Different times." Sonya whispered again.

"Yeah, I got that." Rose replied.

Gwyneth ignored her whispering, and nodded. "We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second."

"Me too." Both girls said, and all three laughed.

"Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own!" She laughed a little.

"I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. And we used to go and look at boys!" Rose told her. Sonya grinned, watching from the sidelines.

Gwyneth stopped laughing. "Well, I don't know much about that, Miss." She turned around.

"Come on, times haven't changed that much! I bet you've done the same." Rose said.

"1869." Sonya whispered again.

"I don't think so, Miss."

"Gwyneth! You can tell me! Bet you've got your eye on someone." Rose insisted. At that, Gwyneth gave in. She turned to face the two girls.

"I suppose. There is one lad..." She started. "The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him!"

"Oh, I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum." Rose said.

"Well, I have never heard the like!" Gwyneth said, a bit shocked by how direct Rose was. Rose laughed, and Sonya and Gwyneth joined in.

"Ask him out! Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start." Rose told her. Sonya's smile faltered. She would never get to do that. Not if she died.

Gwyneth, by now, was getting used to Rose saying "scandalous" things. "I swear, it is the strangest thing, Miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding but you talk like some sort of wild thing!"

Rose shrugged. "Maybe I am. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mr. Sneed." Rose told her.

"Ah, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in. Because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve." Gwyneth said. Sonya felt bad for forgetting that.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Rose looked down.

"I'm sorry." Sonya agreed.

"Thank you." Gwyneth smiled slightly. "But I'll be with them again, one day. Sitting with them in paradise. I should be so blessed. They're waiting for me." Then she looked right at Rose. "Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss."

"Maybe." Rose nodded. And then she realised, "Um, who told you he was dead?" She asked.

Gwyneth turned around again. "I don't know, must've been the Doctor." She said in a light tone.

"My father died years back." Rose said.

"You've been thinking about him lately, more than ever." Gwyneth said. It definitely was a statement, not a question.

"I s'pose so... How do you know all this?" Rose asked.

"Mr. Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you?" She asked.

"No, no servants where we're from." Rose answered.

"Well, some have, but only the very rich. We're not really part of that category. And they're not really called 'servants'." Sonya explained.

"And you've come such a long way." Gwyneth said.

"What makes you think so?"

"You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that." She stared. "All those people rushing about. Half naked, for shame. And the noise. And the metal boxes racing past. And the birds in the sky... They're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People flying. And you, you've flown so far, further than anyone! The things you've seen... The darkness... The big bad wolf." Sonya shuddered at the last words. Gwyneth staggered back, obviously afraid. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Miss!"

"It's all right." Sonya reassured her.

"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl. My mum said I had the sight. She told me to hide it!"

Sonya was about to say something, when Cassidy's voice startled them all.

"I bet it's getting stronger." She was leaning against the door, the Doctor besides her.

"More powerful." The Doctor added. "Is that right?"

"All the time, sir. Every night. Voices in my head." Gwyneth answered the Doctor's question.

"Of course! You grew up on top of the Rift and became a part of it!" Cass remembered.

"I've tried to make sense of it, Miss. Consulted with spiritualists, table wrappers, all sorts." Gwyneth said.

"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do." The Doctor told her.

"What to do where, sir?"

"We're going to have a séance." The Doctor answered.

"Oh, séance! Sounds fun." Cassidy grinned.

* * *

**Song:** _Life Among the Distant Stars_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 4 Soundtrack

Even though Cassidy had said it would be fun, none of the girls really thought so. Because they mostly knew what was going to happen, and while they'd try to convince the Doctor not to help the Gelth, they didn't know for sure he was going to listen to them. Actually they had a feeling he would go through with helping them anyway.

They were all sitting around a table. Gwyneth between the Doctor and Dickens, Camyl between Dickens and Rose, Sonya between Rose and Cassidy, and between Cassidy and the Doctor was Mr. Sneed. Gwyneth was explaining what they were going to do. "This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists. Down in Mid Town. Come. We must all join hands." She had a small smile on her face.

"I can't take part in this." Dickens said, and stood up.

"Come on, Charles. You've got to have an open mind." Camyl told him.

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I try to un-mask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing." Gwyneth's smile faded, and she looked down. Sonya glared at him.

"Now, don't antagonise her. I love a happy medium." The Doctor said.

"I can't believe you just said that." Rose chuckled.

"Come on, we might need you." The Doctor told Dickens, who hesitated, then sat down. "Good man. Now, Gwyneth. Reach out."

There was an eerie silence, broken only by the clock on the wall, before Gwyneth finally said, "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits?" Dickens rolled his eyes. "Come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." She jerked her head, looking up at the ceiling. Some low murmur filled the room. It chilled Sonya to the core.

"Can you hear that?" Rose asked Dickens.

"Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly." Dickens said. Camyl sighed.

"Look at her." Rose told him.

"I feel them. I feel them!" Gwyneth said. The gas creatures began to appear. Sonya's grip on Rose and Cassidy's hands tightened. Everyone except Gwyneth was looking up at the gas creatures.

"What're they saying?" Rose asked.

"They can't get through the Rift." The Doctor looked at Gwyneth. "Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep. Allow them through."

"I can't." Gwyneth said, shaking her head slightly.

"Yes you can." The Doctor told her. "Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link."

Gwyneth looked pained. She lowered her head, and her eyes opened. "Yes."

Three Gelth took form behind her. Dickens' jaw dropped. Mr. Sneed's eyes widened. "Great God. Sprits from the other side!"

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor added.

Sonya felt her stomach drop. Why, oh why did they come again? She didn't even have to look at her friends to know they were thinking—or at least feeling—the same thing as she was. Cassidy's grip on her hand had tightened, and it had started to hurt, though Sonya didn't make a sound.

"Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time, help us." The Gelth in the front, the one that was right behind Gwyneth, and Gwyneth herself said simultaneously.

"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked.

"The Rift. Take the girl to the Rift. Make the bridge." The Gelth and Gwyneth said.

"What for?"

"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction."

"Why, what happened?" The Doctor asked, curious and concerned.

"Once we had a physical form like you. But then the war came." Sonya winced.

"War? What war?" Dickens asked.

"The Time War." At those words, Cassidy's grip tightened even more. Sonya glared at her. Rose glanced at the Doctor, who was now probably feeling guilty as hell.

"Sorry," Cass mouthed.

"The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."

"So that's why you need the corpses." The Doctor realised.

"We want to stand tall. To feel the sunlight. To live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste, give them to us!" The Gelth pleaded.

"But we can't." Rose said, shaking her head.

"I agree." The three fangirls said simultaneously.

"Why not?" The Doctor asked.

"It's not... I mean, it's not..." Rose struggled to find the words she wanted to say.

"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." The Doctor told her.

"But what if we don't have enough corpses?" Sonya asked him.

"Exactly." Cassidy nodded.

"How many are you? Like, the exact number." Camyl asked the Gelth.

"So very few." The Gelth answered.

"How is that an answer?" Cassidy asked, more to herself than the Gelth. "Sorry, Doc, but I agree with Rose."

"Me too." Sonya and Camyl nodded.

"Open the Rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth!" The Gelth pleaded one last time before disappearing. Gwyneth collapsed, falling onto the table. Rose stood up immediately, followed by Camyl.

"Gwyneth!" Rose exclaimed.

"Is she all right?" Camyl asked her.

"It's all true." Dickens whispered.

"Are you all right, Charles?" Sonya asked him.

"I don't know." Rose answered Camyl's question. "She's unconscious."

Dickens didn't answer Sonya's question.

* * *

**Song:** _Rose in Peril_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack

Between them, Camyl and Rose had moved Gwyneth to the couch, and were waiting for her to wake up. Her eyes opened slowly. She tried to stand up, but Rose stopped her.

"It's alright. You just sleep." Rose told her.

"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?" She asked. Before anyone could say anything, the Doctor spoke.

"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're their only chance of survival."

Rose turned to glare at him. "I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." The Doctor just sighed.

"Drink this." Camyl approached, a drink in her hands. She gave it to Gwyneth.

"Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" Mr. Sneed asked.

"Aliens." The Doctor answered.

"Like... Foreigners, you mean?"

"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." The Doctor pointed at the sky… Well, ceiling.

"Brecon?" Mr. Sneed asked. Cassidy made a "more or less" gesture with her hand.

"Close. They've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

"Which is why they need the girl." Dickens completed.

"Well, they're not having her." Rose said.

"But she can help. Living on the Rift, she's become part of it, she can open it up, make a bridge and let them through." The Doctor said, trying to make her understand.

"Not good enough, Doctor, I don't trust the Gelth." Camyl shook her head.

"Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers." Dickens said.

"Good system. It might work." The Doctor commented, and Sonya tried really hard not to start yelling at him.

Rose had no such qualms. She stood up and walked over to the Doctor. "You can't let them run around inside dead people!"

"Why not? It's like recycling." He said.

"Seriously though, you can't."

"Seriously though, I can."

"It's just... Wrong! Those bodies were living people! We should respect them even in death!" Rose exclaimed.

"Do you carry a donor card?" The Doctor asked her.

"That's different. That's—" The Doctor cut her off.

"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home." He snapped.

"It's not the same, these people did not _agree_ to do this while they were alive!" Camyl protested.

"You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying." The Doctor said.

"Do you even know how many they are? There could be billions of them, we would not have enough corpses! What happens then? Do they also possess the living too?" Sonya snapped at him.

"They said they were the last of the Gelth! They can't be many!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Cassidy swore, exasperated.

"I don't care how many they are, they're not having her." Rose said.

"Don't I get a say, miss?" Gwyneth asked softly, after sitting up.

Sonya sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, you do. But you don't understand—"

"You would say that, miss. Because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid." Gwyneth said.

"But I don't! I don't think you're stupid! I just think you don't understand what's going on. Not even the Doctor does." Sonya said.

"Oi!"

"Shush!" Cassidy punched him in the arm.

"Oi! That hurts!"

"Stay quiet, then."

"Things might be very different where you're from. But here and now, I know my own mind. And the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do?"

"You don't _have_ to do anything." The Doctor told her. As if that would make her turn around.

"They've been singing to me since I was a child. Sent by my mum on a holy mission. So tell me." Gwyneth insisted. The Doctor smiled, while Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"They are not angels! And even if they were, you cannot trust angels!" Cassidy exclaimed.

"Don't listen to that last part." Camyl said immediately.

"Yeah, that's from Supernatural." Sonya added.

"So?"

"We need to find the Rift." The Doctor told Gwyneth. He approached Dickens and Sneed. "This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mr. Sneed. What's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?"

"That would be the Morgue." Mr. Sneed answered.

"Obviously." Cassidy added.

"No chance you were gonna say 'gazebo', was there?" Rose asked, and everyone turned to look at her.

* * *

**Song:** _Help is on its Way_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 6 Soundtrack

The Doctor was the first to step inside the morgue, followed by his companions, and then everyone else. The room was dark, and cold. The bodies were covered by white sheets, all of them on tables. It sent a chill down Sonya's spine.

"Talk about Bleak House." The Doctor commented as he walked in.

"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed. 'Cause I know they don't. I know for a fact that corpses weren't walking around in 1869." Rose started.

"Time's in flux. It's changing every second. Your cozy little world could be rewritten like that." The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing."

"Except fixed points in time." Camyl added.

The Doctor waved it off. "That's besides the point."

"Doctor." Dickens interrupted. "I think the room is getting colder." And it did, more than it already was. Sonya shivered.

"Here they come." Rose said, as the Gelth came out of the gas lamps. One of them appeared, taking a humanoid form.

"You've come to help!" It exclaimed. "Praise the Doctor, praise him!"

"Praise him!" Sonya whispered to Cassidy, a clear reference to Doctor Who, series six, episode "God Complex".

"Oh, shush!" Cass whispered back.

"Promise you won't hurt her!" Rose shouted.

"Hurry! Please. So little time. Pity the Gelth." The Gelth said, not quite answering the question.

"I love how they purposely didn't answer." Cass whispered to her.

"That's what I was thinking."

The Doctor stepped forwards. "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?" He asked them.

The Gelth didn't reply. "My angels. I can help them live." Gwyneth said.

"Okay, where's the weak point?" The Doctor asked.

"Here, beneath the arch." The Gelth answered. Gwyneth moved to stand under it, also being right under the Gelth.

"Beneath the arch." She said.

Rose rushed to where she was. "You don't have to do this." She reminded her. Gwyneth placed her hands on Rose's cheeks.

"My angels." She said. It was the reason she was actually going through with it. She believed they were angels, sent by her parents. She believed they needed help, and that was enough for her. But she didn't know what the Gelth were doing. She didn't know what their plan really was. She didn't understand how helping the Gelth was bad for the human race.

But with those two little words, Sonya understood. She understood that, ever since she first heard the call from the Gelth, she was going to do it. She was going to go through with it. She was going to die anyway, closing the Rift. And there was nothing Sonya and her friends could've done that would help her.

Sonya suppressed the urge to run forwards and hug the girl, and she also suppressed the tears that threatened to spill.

Rose staggered backwards.

"Establish the bridge, reach out of the void, let us through!" The Gelth commanded.

"Yes. I can see you! I can see you! Come!" Gwyneth told them.

"Bridgehead establishing." The Gelth said.

"Come! Come to me! Come to this world, poor lost souls!" The scene brought even more tears to her eyes, yet she blinked them away.

"It is begun! The bridge is made!" The Gelth said. Gwyneth's mouth opened, and the Gelth poured out of it. The blue, gaseous creatures flew all over the room, circled the living humans standing between the tables, in front of the arch, where Gwyneth stood. "She has given herself to the Gelth! The bridge is open. We descend." And then the Gelth's eyes turned red, its blue form slowly turning to red-orange, like fire. "The Gelth will come through in force." The Gelth said, in a different voice. The voice was deep, rough. Some might even call it demonic.

"You said that you were _few_ in number!" Dickens protested.

"A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses." The Gelth answered. The rest of the Gelth, still in gaseous form, entered the bodies in the morgue, and rose.

"Oh, we _told_ you! We _told_ you they were many. But did you listen?" Cassidy glared at all of them, mainly the Doctor.

"Gwyneth... Stop this! Listen to your master! This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, leave these things alone. I beg of you!" Mr. Sneed approached Gwyneth.

As one of the corpses approached Mr. Sneed, Gwyneth's words came back to her. _He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in._

Maybe Gwyneth was right. Maybe Mr. Sneed wasn't so bad at all.

"Mr. Sneed! Get back!" Rose's shout brought her back to reality, but it was too late. One of the corpses grabbed Sneed from behind.

"No!" Sonya moved forwards, but was pulled back. She didn't even try to guess who had pulled her back. She didn't care. "Let me go!" She shouted, kicking, elbowing the body that held her back as strong as she could. The person's grip on her loosened, and she freed herself. The Doctor pulled her away from the person that had taken her, and she realised, looking back for no more than a second, that it had been one of the Gelth.

Gas entered Mr. Sneed's mouth, and he was soon possessed by a Gelth.

"Damn it!" Sonya kicked the ground in frustration.

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong." The Doctor admitted.

Sonya turned to glare at him. "You think?" All three fangirls snapped at the same time. Sonya freed her arm from the Doctor's grip but didn't move from his side.

"I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come. March with us." Mr. Sneed said in an eerie voice.

"No." Dickens shook his head.

The corpses started moving towards the Doctor, Rose and Sonya, moving like zombies. "We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead." All three of them stepped backwards, walking unknowingly towards a dungeon door.

"Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back! Now!" The Doctor yelled at Gwyneth, but she either couldn't hear him, or decided to ignore him.

"Six more bodies. Make them vessels for the Gelth."

"I—I can't! I'm sorry!" Dickens said.

"Dickens!" Cassidy growled. "Don't you dare leave us here!"

The Doctor glanced behind him, and Sonya did the same. The Doctor opened the dungeon door and pulled Rose and Sonya in, before closing the door in front of them, locking themselves in. The Doctor stood between Rose and Sonya.

"It's too much for me! I'm so—" The author didn't finish his sentence. He was near the door. As the corpses approached, he slipped out.

"Why you little—" Sonya heard Cassidy say before she and Camyl also slipped out. Cassidy was probably going to yell at Dickens for leaving all three of them trapped there.

With all the fear and the pressure, Sonya couldn't remember how they had escaped. She just remembered they had. But how? She searched her brain but her heart was bumping too fast, too loudly, and she couldn't focus on anything except on the creatures in front of her. Fear was probably what was suppressing the tears. The corpses raised their right hands and reached through the bars of the door, and the Doctor, Rose and Sonya stepped back, until they were literally against the wall.

"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth." The Gelth were saying.

"I trusted you. I pitied you!" The Doctor spat out. If he was afraid, he didn't show it. What he was showing was his anger, his fury. It radiated out of him, and if he wasn't on their side, Sonya would be way more afraid of the Doctor than the Gelth. This, she decided, was why he was called the Oncoming Storm. His rage; that probably suppressed all fear inside him. And now he was furious, because he'd been used. You don't use the Doctor, without expecting consecuences. You don't lie to the Doctor or hide things from him without expecting consecuences, and that thought made her want to throw up.

It was too much. The fear, the anger, the _bloody corpses trying to turn her into a Gelth._ And now the fact that the Doctor was probably going to hate her and her friends, because they kept secrets from him. _Bloody hell_, she thought.

"We don't want your pity! We want this world and all its flesh." The Gelth replied, shaking the door.

"Not while I'm alive." The Doctor said.

"Terrible choice of words." Sonya mumbled to him, incapable of talking any louder.

"Then live no longer." The Gelth said.

Silence. For a few seconds, the only sound that could be heard were the Gelth rattling the door. And it was terrifying.

"But I can't die." Rose said, breaking the eerie silence. She looked at the Doctor for reassurance. "Tell me I can't! I haven't even been born yet, it's impossible for me to die! Isn't it?!"

The Doctor just gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."

Those were the words Rose feared to hear.

"But it's 1869, how can I die now?" Rose demanded.

"Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th and it's all my fault. I brought you here. Both of you." The Doctor turned his head to look at Sonya. "I'm sorry."

The lump in her throat was making it difficult for her to speak. She took a deep breath, and shook her head. "Don't say that. I wanted to come, it was my decision." She said firmly.

"It's not your fault. I wanted to come." Rose agreed.

"What about me? I saw the fall of Troy! World War Five! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party, now I'm going to die in a dungeon!" And then he added, in a horrified tone, "In Cardiff!"

"Oi! Stop criticising Cardiff already!" Sonya snapped. Her fear gone for a minute, anger taking over, before leaving her as fast as it had arrived. It was a stupid thing to be angry about. And truth was, that wasn't the main reason Sonya was angry. She was angry because the Doctor hadn't listened to them and Gwyneth and Mr. Sneed had died for nothing. She was angry at the Gelth for taking advantage of the Doctor. And mostly, she was mad at herself for not trying any harder. That little comment about Cardiff would've hardly bothered her had she been in her normal state, and while she would've made a similar comment, she wouldn't have snapped at him, and it would've been in a reproachful, but joking tone.

She really was scared.

"It's not just dying. We'll become one of them." Rose said. Silence. "We'll go down fighting, yeah?" She asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed.

Sonya pushed her fear aside. They were right. If they were going to die, then let it be fighting back, not standing in the corner, eyes closed tight, wishing it had happened differently, or never happened at all. She drew in a shaky breath. "Of course."

"Together?" Rose asked.

"Yeah!" The Doctor said. He gripped Rose's hand.

"Definitely."

"I'm so glad I met you. Both of you." The Doctor told the girls.

"Me too." They both replied, at the same time.

And just then, thank God, Camyl, Cassidy and Dickens burst in.

"Doctor!" Cassidy shouted. "We've got to fill the room with gas! Now!" She shouted. "Turn off the flame!" And she and her two companions started doing just that.

"What're you doing?" The Doctor demanded.

"Turn it all on! Gas the place!" Dickens yelled.

"Brilliant. Gas!" The Doctor said, as realisation dawned on him. Same happened to Sonya, and her eyes widened.

"Oh. _Oh!_ Of course!" She shouted. She hit herself in the head with her left hand. "How can I be so stupid! That was it!"

"What, so we choke to death instead?" Rose gave them a bewildered look.

"Rose, by filling the room with gas, we're drawing the Gelth out of the corpses." Camyl explained.

"Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!" The Doctor added. At his words, the corpses turned to Dickens and the other two girls.

"I hope... Oh, Lord. I hope that this theory will be validated soon." Dickens said.

"It will." Sonya grinned. There was a chance they were going to live. They better not ruin it. "If not immediately."

"Plenty more!" The Doctor grabbed a gas canister, smashing it against the wall. The Gelth immediately left their hosts.

"Hurry!" Cassidy said. "We need to get out of here! We breathe in too much gas and we're dead."

As if that needed saying.

With that, Cass pulled Camyl out of the room, and out of the house.

As the corpses fell to the ground, the Doctor opened the dungeon door, and they all stepped out.

"Gwyneth! Send them back! They lied, they're not angels." The Doctor told her.

"Liars." She said.

"Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!" The Doctor ordered her.

Sonya started coughing. She couldn't breathe. The same thing happened to Rose.

"Can't breathe." The blonde choked out.

"Charles, get them out." The Doctor told the author, as he glanced at the two choking girls.

Sonya stayed where she was. She glanced at Gwyneth, her eyes filling with tears once again.

"Goodbye, Gwyneth!" Sonya managed to tell the girl. She then walked towards the door.

"I'm not leaving her!" She heard Rose say. The girl had shaken off Dickens' grip on her arm. Sonya approached her.

"There's nothing we can do!" Sonya managed to say. "Come on!"

And between Sonya and Dickens, they managed to drag Rose out of the house.

* * *

**Song:** _Rose's Theme_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack

The Doctor managed to dive out of the house just in time before the house burst in flames. Rose, Sonya, Camyl, Cassidy and Dickens rushed forwards as the Doctor stood up, the house exploding behind him.

Rose was looking at the Doctor. The question was clear. _Why isn't Gwyneth with you?_

"She didn't make it." Rose said.

"I'm sorry. She closed the rift." The Doctor said.

"At such a cost. The poor child." Dickens' voice shook at the end.

At Rose's accusing look, the Doctor added, "I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"She was dead as soon as she stood in that arch." Sonya said, unable to keep the sadness out of her voice.

"But... She can't have, she spoke to us. She helped us, she saved us. How could she have done that?" Rose asked them.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor." Dickens said.

"She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know." Melancholy was clear in Rose's voice.

"We will." Camyl said softly, putting a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder. And the six of them stood there, watching the house burn down, the flames going higher and higher into the sky.

* * *

**Song:** _Hologram_, Murray Gold, Doctor Who: Series 1 & 2 Soundtrack

And soon all six of them were standing in front of the TARDIS.

"Right then, Charlie-boy, I've just got to go into my um... Shed. Won't be long!" The Doctor brought out his key and unlocked the door.

"What're you going to do now?" Rose asked the author.

"I shall take the mail coach back to London. Quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital." Dickens answered.

"Good boy!" Cassidy grinned at him, but Sonya could tell she was still sad and angry about what had just happened. One does not forget two deaths so easily, specially when they happened right in front of your eyes.

"You've cheered up!" The Doctor noticed, and turned to the author, a smile on his face.

"Exceedingly! This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world and now I know I've just started! All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor! I'm inspired. I must write about them!" He said, enthusiastically.

"Of course you should." Sonya smiled at him.

"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asked him.

"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word! Tell the truth!"

"Good luck with it. Nice to meet you." The Doctor shook Dickens' hand. "Fantastic."

"Bye, then. And, thanks." Rose said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Oh, my dear—how modern. Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?" Dickens asked.

"You'll see. In the shed." The Doctor said, opening the door of the TARDIS.

"Oh, my soul. Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this: who are you?"

The Doctor paused, obviously thinking about his answer. "Just a friend. Passing through."

"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?" Dickens asked.

"Oh, yes!"

"For how long?"

The Doctor paused, grinning widely, before he finally said, "Forever!" He paused. "Right. Shed. Come on, Rose, Camyl, Cassidy, Sonya."

"In—in the box? All of you?" Dickens asked, bewildered.

"Down boy. See ya!" The Doctor said, before stepping into the TARDIS, Rose following right behind.

"It was nice to meet you, Charles! Amazing!" Cassidy grinned, waved at him, and entered the TARDIS as well.

"Goodbye. Nice to meet you." Camyl smiled at him before stepping inside.

Sonya lingered. "You're one of my favourite authors, you know? It's thanks to you that I decided to become a writer." She said, and quickly added, "It was very nice to meet you, and thank you for everything. Goodbye!" She smiled at him and entered the TARDIS, shutting the door behind her.

She came in just in time to hear the Doctor say, "But in your time, he was already dead! We've brought him back to life! He's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie-boy. Let's give him one last surprise." The Doctor grinned at his companions. Sonya quickly joined them next to the console. The TARDIS dematerialised, and they all smiled softly at the look on Dickens' face.

Sonya could even hear his laughter, as he walked away from the spot the TARDIS had been.


End file.
